LIBRARY 

OF  THK 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


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gale  bicentennial  J&ublteattmt0 

THEMISTOCLES  AND  ARISTIDES 


gale  ^Bicentennial  publications 

With  the  approval  of  the  President  and  Fellows 
of  Tale  University,  a  series  of  volumes  has  been 
prepared  by  a  number  of  the  Professors  and  In- 
structors, to  be  issued  in  connection  with  the 
Bicentennial  Anniversary,  as  a  partial  indica- 
tion of  the  character  of  the  studies  in  which  the 
University  teachers  are  engaged. 

This   series   of  volumes    is    respectfully  dedicated  to 

45raDuate0  of  tlje 


PLUTARCH'S 

THEMISTOCLES 

AND 

ARISTIDES 


NEWLY   TRANSLATED,    WITH  INTRODUCTION 
AND  NOTES 

BY 
BERNADOTTE     PERRIN 

Professor  in  Yale  University 


Wie  schwer  sind  nicht  die  Mittel  zu  erwerben, 
Durch  die  man  zu  den  Quellen  steigt ! 

GOETHE'S  Faust,  I.  i,  209  f. 


NEW  YORK:   CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

LONDON:    EDWARD   ARNOLD 

1901 


Copyright,  1901, 

BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Published,  September,  1901. 


UNIVERSITY   PRESS  •   JOHN   WILSON 
AND     SON     •     CAMBRIDGE,   U.S.A. 


TO 

JOHN     HAY 

FRIEND    OF    HELLENISM 


PREFACE 


IN  writing  this  book,  I  have  had  in  mind  as  possible 
friends  to  be  won  by  it,  first,  all  lovers  of  Plutarch,  whose 
name,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  is  still  legion.  Knowing  how  im- 
possible it  is  to  reproduce  in  English  the  illusive  qualities 
which  distinguish  one  Greek  style  from  another,  they  will 
commend  my  work  of  translation  if  it  brings  out  clearly  the 
spirit  of  Plutarch  as  a  writer  of  Lives :  the  easy  and  com- 
fortable movements  of  his  thought ;  his  attitude  toward  men 
who  are  struggling  with  great  problems  of  life  and  destiny ; 
his  amiable  weaknesses  as  a  judge  of  historical  evidence ;  his 
relish  for  the  personal  anecdote  and  the  mot ;  his  disregard  of 
the  logic  and  chronology  of  events ;  his  naive  appropriation  of 
the  literary  product  of  others ;  his  consummate  art  in  making 
deeds  and  words,  whether  authentic  or  not,  portray  a  pre- 
conceived character,  —  a  more  or  less  idealized  character. 
They  will  welcome  my  introductions  and  explanatory  notes 
also,  in  so  far  as  these  enable  the  English  reader  to  repro- 
duce, even  though  faintly,  the  atmosphere  of  bountiful  liter- 
ary tradition  which  Plutarch  amply  breathed  before  and  as 
he  wrote.  It  should  be  possible,  in  some  degree,  at  least,  for 
the  student  of  these  notes  and  introductions  to  penetrate,  as 
it  were,  into  the  very  studio  of  the  greatest  of  ethical  portrait- 
painters,  and  watch  him  mix  his  colors  and  apply  them  to 
the  canvas. 

I  have  had  in  mind,  second,  all  lovers  of  Greek  history, 
and  especially  of  the  story  of  the  Greek  Wars  of  Freedom, 
wherein  Salamis  and  Platsea  must  always  be  the  glorious 
names.  Translation  and  notes  together  will  show  how  suc- 
cessive generations  of  Greeks  told  and  retold  the  stories  of 


x  PREFACE 

these  battles ;  how  new  and  civil  hates  obscured  the  laurels 
won  against  foreign  foes ;  how  genius  was  discredited  and 
mediocrity  rewarded ;  and  how  for  six  centuries  romance  and 
invention  went  on  weaving  their  unsubstantial  robes  around 
the  dim  figures  of  the  man  of  genius  and  the  man  of  medi- 
ocrity. It  may  possibly  be  that  some  students  of  Greek  his- 
tory in  our  high  schools,  academies,  and  colleges  have  come 
to  love  it,  as  their  teachers  doubtless  all  do,  and  that  both 
students  and  teachers  may  welcome  the  opportunity  which 
this  book  affords  them  of  getting  behind  the  stereotyped 
phrases  of  the  ordinary  manual  of  Greek  history  into  that 
stimulating  atmosphere  of  doubt  and  uncertainty  before 
conflicting  testimonies  which  nourishes  the  judgment  rather 
than  the  memory;  where  witnesses  who  desired  to  tell  an 
attractive  story  can  be  confronted  with  witnesses  who  desired 
to  tell  the  same  story  truly,  or  perhaps  even  with  the  witness 
of  imperishable  monuments;  where  even  the  earliest  oral 
testimonies  show  that  the  story-teller's  delight  in  the  form 
of  the  story  was  apt  to  affect  the  matter  of  the  story,  in 
ancient  as  well  as  in  the  latest  history. 

To  the  professional  and  learned  student  of  Greek  history 
I  should  scarcely  venture  to  appeal  with  this  book,  unless 
he  might  wish  to  compare  with  his  own  opinions  on  contro- 
verted points  the  opinions  which  I  have  reached  after  weigh- 
ing the  same  evidence  which  he  has  himself  weighed.  There 
is  always  interest,  if  not  profit,  in  such  comparisons.  But  to 
the  professional  and  learned  student  of  other  history  than 
Greek,  and  especially  of  modern  history,  I  do  confidently 
appeal  for  enough  attention  to  this  book  to  convince  himself, 
if  he  is  not  already  convinced,  of  the  substantial  identity  of 
the  problems  and  methods  of  historical  research  in  fields  so 
remote  from  each  other  as  this  from  his.  It  is  quite  as  diffi- 
cult, probably,  in  1901  A.D.  for  an  intelligent  historian,  without 
recourse  to  the  official  documents  of  the  War  Office,  to  get  true 
accounts  of  the  battles  at  Gettysburg  in  1863  as  it  was  for 
Herodotus  in  440-430  B.C.  to  get  true  accounts  of  the  battles 
at  Plataea  in  479 ;  and  even  contemporary  accounts  of  im- 


PREFACE  xi 

portant  engagements  in  the  current  war  in  South  Africa, 
given  by  leading  participants,  are  sharply  conflicting. 

I  do  not  forget  Niebuhr's  quotation  from  Wilhelm  von 
Humboldt :  "  Es  soil  mir  Alles  recht  sein,  wenn  man  Plutarch 
nur  nicht  als  Geschichtsschreiber  betrachtet,"  and  I  neither 
regard  Plutarch  as  an  historian  nor  would  I  have  others  do  so. 
We  must  admire  and  love  Plutarch  for  what  he  is,  not  rely 
upon  him  or  criticise  him  for  what  he  is  not  and  did  not  try 
to  be.  But,  in  the  dearth  of  testimony  for  obscure  events  in 
ancient  history,  Plutarch  will  often  be  brought  to  the  stand 
as  a  witness ;  in  that  case  only  those  who  know  him  thor- 
oughly as  the  artist  in  ethical  portrait-painting  which  he 
tried  to  be,  can  judge  of  the  worth  of  his  witness  on  an 
historical  question. 

On  such  hotly  controverted  points  as  the  authenticity 
of  the  tract  On  the  Malignity  of  Herodotus,  ascribed  to 
Plutarch ;  the  extent  and  worth  of  the  biographical  tract 
of  Stesimbrotus  of  Thasos;  the  date  of  the  archonship  of 
Themistocles,  and  many  others  like  them,  I  have,  of  course, 
simply  taken  the  position  to  which  my  studies  have  led  me, 
without  arguing  the  questions  out  fully.  The  authorities 
cited  in  the  notes  are  not  always,  or  often,  indeed,  the  final 
authorities,  but  such  as  my  English  readers  will  find  most 
accessible  and  convenient.  Great  storehouses  of  classical 
scholarship  have  been  opened  to  the  English  reader  in  the 
translations  of  Herodotus  by  Kawlinson,  of  Thucydides  by 
Jowett,  and  of  Pausanias  by  Frazer.  These  I  quote,  and  to 
these  I  refer  often,  in  the  hope  of  bringing  many  a  reader 
under  the  larger  spell  of  their  entire  works.  But,  though  I 
may  not  profitably  cite  them  much  in  the  current  notes,  it 
would  be  unfair  not  to  express  my  constant  obligation  to 
such  works  as  Busolt's  Griechische  Gfeschichte,  Wilamowitz- 
Moellendorffs  Aristoteles  und  Athen,  Adolf  Schmidt's  ec- 
centric but  useful  Perikleische  Zeitalter,  Eduard  Meyer's 
Forschungen  zur  alien  Geschichte,  —  particularly  the  second 
volume  (1899),— Adolf  Bauer's  ThemistoUes  (1881)  and 
Plutarchs  ThemistoUes  (1884),  and  Ivo  Bruns'  Das  litera- 


xii  PREFACE 

rische  Portrdt  der  Griechen.  While  my  book  was  passing 
through  the  press  I  had,  through  the  kindness  of  Professor 
Gudeman,  the  tantalizing  pleasure  of  reading  Friedrich  Leo's 
Grifchisch-Itdmische  Biographic  (1901),  a  work  of  which 
I  would  gladly  have  made  more  use.  I  am  largely  indebted 
to  it  for  one  section  of  my  Introduction  (Biography  before 
Plutarch). 

It  will  be  seen  at  once,  then,  that  I  have  not  tried  to  write 
a  learned  book  for  the  learned,  but  one  which  may  attract  an 
ordinary  English  reader  of  culture  and  taste  toward  learning, 
and  Greek  learning  in  particular.  From  such  recruits  the 
Greek  scholar  of  the  future  may  come  by  promotion. 

And  yet  I  should  like  to  get  the  approval  of  scholars  also. 
My  highest  reward  would  be  to  have  truly  said  of  me,  as 
represented  by  this  book,  what  Ivo  Brans  said  of  Henri  Weil 
and  his  last  edition  of  the  Medea  of  Euripides :  "  Er  belehrt 
den  Anf&nger,  und  regt  den  Kenner  an." 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  acknowledge  the  courtesy  of  Frau 
Heimpel,  daughter  of  the  late  Professor  Rhousopoulos,  of 
Athens,  in  allowing  the  Magnesian  coin  which  her  father  had 
published  to  be  photographed  for  my  use ;  of  Dr.  von  Prott, 
Librarian  of  the  German  Institute  at  Athens,  in  allowing  me 
the  use  of  the  drawing  which  illustrated  the  coin  of  Professor 
Rhousopoulos,  as  published  in  the  Mittheilungen  of  the  Insti- 
tute ;  of  Dr.  Db'rpfeld,  Director  of  the  Institute,  in  furnish- 
ing me  with  a  photograph  of  the  Themiatocles-ostrakon  ;  of 
my  pupil,  Mr.  Samuel  E.  Bassett,  at  present  the  Soldiers' 
Memorial  Fellow  of  Yale,  at  Athens,  in  assisting  me  to 
secure  the  illustrations  mentioned;  and  of  Mons.  Babelon, 
Conservateur  du  Cabinet  des  Me'dailles  in  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale  at  Paris,  in  supplying  me  with  impressions  of  the 
Magnesian  didrachm  of  Themistocles. 

B.  P. 

NEW  HAVKX,  June,  1901. 


CONTENTS 

PACK 
PREFACE ix 

LIST  AND  EXPLANATION  OP  ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  MAPS     .      xv 

INTRODUCTION  : 
I.    PLUTARCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER 1 

II.    THEMISTOCLES,  AND  THE  TRADITION  OF  HIS  HISTORY 

IN  PLUTARCH'S  LIFE 25 

(a)  Outline  Sketch  of  the  Persian  Wars 

(b)  The  Sources  of  Plutarch  in  his  Themistocles 

(c)  Analysis  of  the  Themistocles 

III.  ARISTIDES,  AND  THE  TRADITION  OF  HIS  HISTORY  IN 

PLUTARCH'S  LIFE 49 

(a)  Aris  tides  in  the  Persian  Wars 

(b)  The  Sources  of  Plutarch  in  his  Aristides 

(c)  Analysis  of  the  Aristides 

IV.  BIOGRAPHY  BEFORE  PLUTARCH 64 

ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES  CITED  BY  PLU- 
TARCH IN  THE  THEMISTOCLES 68 

ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES  CITED  BY  PLU- 
TARCH IN  THE  ARISTIDES 69 

THE  THEMISTOCLES 71 

THE  ARISTIDES 121 

NOTES  ON  THE  THEMISTOCLES 171 

NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES 263 

INDEX  333 


LIST  AND  EXPLANATION   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 
AND   MAPS 


1.  AN  ATHENIAN  STRATEGOS Frontispiece 

A  marble  herm,  the  so-called  "  Themistocles  "  of  the  Vatican. 
It  is  now  generally  recognized  to  be  in  a  style  later  than  the 
time  of  Pheidias,  as  late,  perhaps,  as  the  first  part  of  the  fourth 
century  B.  c.  Furtwangler  speaks  of  it  (Masterpieces  of  Greek 
Sculpture,  p.  1 22,  note)  as  "  a  copy  of  a  beautiful  head  by  some 
artist  closely  akin  to  Cresilas,"  who  was  active  at  Athens  during 
the  age  of  Pericles.  The  Corinthian  helmet  betokens  a  Strategos, 
or  Athenian  Commander-in-chief.  The  point  of  the  vizor  has  been 
restored,  and  the  face  shows  signs  of  reworking.  Friederichs- 
Wolters,  Bausteine,  No.  482  ;  Helbig,  Guide  to  the  Public  Collec- 
tions of  Classical  Antiquities  in  Rome,  I.  p.  134-  Bernouilli, 
Griechische  Ikonographie,  I.  pp.  95-100. 

2.  A  THEMISTOCLES-  OSTRAKON 104 

Found  in  January,  1897,  during  excavations  by  the  German 
Archaeological  Institute,  in  a  trial-trench  dug  northwest  of  the 
Areiopagus,  near  the  modern  carriage-road,  on  the  site,  probably, 
of  the  ancient  agora.  It  is  a  fragment  of  a  large  crater,  with 
letters  carefully  incised.  It  was  used  to  vote  for  the  ostracism 
of  Themistocles  either  in  483  B.  c.,  when  he  was  successful 
against  Aristides,  or  in  472  (? ),  when  he  was  unsuccessful  against 
Cimon.  Athenische  Mittheilungen,  XXII.  (1897),  pp.  345-8. 

3.  (a)  A   DlDRACHM   OF   THEMISTOCLES 254 

Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Paris,  Cabinet  des  Me'dailles.  A  silver 
didrachm  of  the  Attic  standard,  the  coinage  of  Themistocles  at 
Magnesia,  464-458  (? )  B.  c.  Obverse  :  Apollo,  standing  toward 
right,  chlamys  over  shoulders  and  depending  at  either  side, 
right  hand  stemmed  against  thigh,  left  supported  by  long  branch 
of  olive ;  inscription,  0EMI2TOKAEO2.  Reverse  :  incuse,  within 
which  raven,  or  hawk  (as  bird  of  augury),  in  full  flight  upwards, 
MA  (Magnesia)  beneath  the  wings  at  either  side.  Waddington, 
Revue  Numismatinue,  1856,  pp.  47  ff.,  Plate  III.  2 ;  Baumeister, 
Denkmaler,  III.  p.  1762.  There  is  a  plated  imitation  of  this 
coin  in  the  British  Museum.  Head,  Catalogue  of  Greek  Coins, 
Ionia,  p.  158. 


xvi  ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  MAPS 

PAOE 

(b)  AN  ATTIC  DIDRACHM 254 

British  Museum;  period,  527-430  B.C.  Obverse:  head  of 
Athena,  towurd  right,  of  archaic  style,  weariug  round  ear-ring 
and  close-fitting  crested  helmet.  Reverse :  incuse  square,  withiu 
which  an  owl  with  closed  wings,  toward  right;  behind  owl,  an 
olive  spray  ;  in  front,  A6E  (Athens).  Plead,  Catalogue  of  Greek 
Coint,  Attica,  p.  8,  Plate  IV.  4.  For  comparison  with  (a). 

(c)  ATHENIAN  BRONZES  OF  THE  ROMAN  IMPERIAL  PERIOD    254 
British  Museum.     Obverse  (not  here  given):   bust  of  Athena, 

with  Corinthian  helmet,  lievene  (two  types) :  (1 )  Themistocles, 
wearing  cuirass  and  helmet,  striding  to  right  on  galley,  carry- 
ing wreath  and  trophy ;  on  prow  of  galley,  owl  and  serpent 
(2)  Similar  features,  turned  toward  left.  "  In  Salamis  there  is 
a  sanctuary  of  Artemis  and  a  trophy  of  the  victory  which  The- 
mistocles,  sou  of  Neocles,  was  instrumental  in  winning  for  the 
Greeks.  There  is  also  a  sanctuary  of  Cychreus.  It  is  said  that 
while  the  Athenians  were  engaged  in  the  sea-fight  with  the 
Modes  a  serpent  appeared  among  the  ships,  and  God  announced 
to  the  Atheuians  that  this  serpent  was  the  hero,  Cychreus" 
(Pausanins,  I.  36,  1).  Head,  Catalogue  of  Greek  Coins,  Attica, 
p.  108,  Hate  XIX.  1  and  2;  Imhoof-Blnmer  and  Percy  Gardner, 
Numismatic  Commentary  on  Pausanias,  Plate  EE,  xxii.,  xxi. 

4.  A  MAGNESIAN  BRONZE,  COINAGE  OF  ANTONINUS  Pius  .  258 
In  the  private  collection  of  the  late  Professor  Rhousopoulos, 
Athens.  Very  much  worn,  photographs  therefore  indistinct ; 
cuts  from  accurate  drawings.  Obverse :  bust  of  Antoninus  Pius, 
toward  right,  wearing  wreath  of  laurel,  the  ends  of  which  hang 
down  into  the  neck ;  mantle  (paludamtnlum)  on  breast  and  shoul- 
ders ;  inscription,  [  ]  KAI2APANTQNEINO2.  Reverse : 
nude  man  of  stately  presence,  with  short  beard,  wearing  on  the 
head  a  wreath  or  fillet,  the  ends  of  which  fall  into  the  neck.  He 
stands,  toward  the  left,  before  a  blazing  circular  altar.  In  his 
right  hand,  which  is  stretched  out  over  the  altar,  he  holds  a 
saucer  (patera),  from  which  he  makes  a  libation  (of  blood). 
With  his  left  hand  he  grasps  the  hilt  of  a  sword,  which  hangs 
in  a  sheath  at  his  left  side.  At  the  foot  of  the  altar  lies  the 
slain  victim  of  the  sacrifice,  with  outstretched  head  and  open 
month,  —  an  Asiatic  bison  (zebu).  The  inscription  encircling 
the  field  is  EniAIOSKOTPIAOTITATOTMHTPMArNHT,  and  is 
found  on  two  other  Magnesian  coins.  The  Dioskourides  is  other- 
wise unknown.  A  second  inscription,  in  the  left  of  the  field, 
above  and  below  the  outstretched  hand,  reads  0EMI20OKAE2 
It  was  held  by  Rhonsopoulos  that  the  monument  erected  by  the 
Magnesians  to  Themistocles  in  the  market-place  of  their  city  is 
here  copied.  It  represented  Themistocles  as  Hero  of  Magnesia, 
sacrificing.  The  original  monument,  judged  to  have  been  of 
bronze,  must  have  been  extant  in  the  time  of  Antoninus  Pius. 
Atlienisclie  Mittheilungen,  XXI.  (1896),  pp.  18  ff. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  MAPS  xvii 

PAGE 
MAPS  :  (a)  Attica  and  the  Saronic  Gulf ;  (b)  The  Straits 

of  Salamis 206 

The  upper  map  is  made  after  Kiepert ;  the  lower,  after  the  map 
in  Papers  of  the  American  Schoolat  Athens,!,  p.  240. 

MAPS  :  (a)  Boeotia  and  Confines ;   (l>)  The  Battle-field  of 

Plataea 287 

The  upper  map  is  made  after  Kiepert ;  the  lower,  after  the  map 
in  Papers  of  the  American  School  at  Athens,  V.  p.  256. 


INTRODUCTION 


I  PLUTAECH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER1 

FOR  the  study  of  human  character  no  true  biography  can 
properly  come  amiss.  But  for  the  study  of  human  history, 
of  the  great  institutions  of  society,  of  the  sweep  and  reach  of 
civilization,  and  especially  for  the  study  of  the  history  of 
a  particular  people,  the  biographical  method  has  its  disad- 
vantages and  may  easily  be  abused.  There  is  great  fascina- 
tion in  the  touch  of  a  living  personality  with  one  which  is 
past  and  gone ;  a  certain  excitement  hi  calling  back  from 
death  and  the  grave  into  life  and  action  before  the  eyes,  as 
it  were,  the  once  potent  spirits  who  enriched  human  life, 
whether  by  good  or  evil  courses.  The  biographical  study  of 
history  lifts  the  student  into  an  enjoyment  like  that  of  the 
melancholy  Bavarian  king,  when  he  sat  alone  in  the  opera 
house  and  had  the  musical  dramas  of  "Wagner  produced 
before  him  with  all  the  pomp  of  royal  resource.  It  is  pre- 
cisely because  the  biographical  method  is  so  fascinating,  so 
exciting,  so  dramatic,  that  it  must  be  used  with  caution,  with 
the  constant  corrective  of  the  best  historical  criticism,  so  that 
even  while  the  reader  yields  to  the  charm  of  great  historical 
dramas  re-enacted  for  his  individual  benefit,  he  may  be  well 
aware  how  ideal  or  how  real  the  characters  moving  before 
him  are  ;  how  far  they  are  the  genuine  products  of  their  own 
time,  and  how  far  they  have  been  clothed  upon  by  the  more 
or  less  false  and  perverting  interpretations  of  subsequent 
times,  through  the  dense  medium  of  which  the  original, 
personal  spirit  shines  down  to  the  present  day. 

1  R.  W.  Emerson,  Introduction  to  Plutarch's  Morals,  edited  by  "W.  "W. 
Goodwin,  Boston,  1870,  1889.  R.  C.  Trench,  Plutarch,  Five  Lectures, 
London,  1873,  1874.  George  Wyndham,  Introduction  to  the  "Tudor" 
Edition  of  North's  translation  of  the  Lives,  London,  1895. 

1 


2  INTRODUCTION 

The  biographical  method,  then,  by  its  dramatic  charm  and 
power,  may  give  unreal  and  even  false  ideas  of  historical 
processes  and  evolutions;  it  may  obscure  them  altogether. 
The  larger  personalities  who  achieve  the  distinction  of  biog- 
raphy often  strive  against  tendencies  which  are  sure  to  be 
victorious  in  the  end,  and  sure  to  bring  the  richer  blessing 
on  the  world.  And  yet  the  keen  sympathy  aroused  by  the 
special  study  of  their  personal  endeavors  may  make  the 
reader  oblivious  to  the  narrowness  and  error  of  such  endeav- 
ors. It  may  keep  him  from  distinguishing  between  creative 
and  moulding  personalities,  who  shape  the  history  of  their 
time  and  of  all  times  by  initiating  and  guiding  torrents  of 
accumulated  human  desire  ;  representative  personalities,  who 
simply  mirror  the  average  desire,  or  echo  the  prevalent  voices ; 
and  obstructive  personalities,  who  stem  and  thwart  for  a 
while  the  great  currents  of  human  desire,  but  are  finally, 
after  changing  somewhat  the  channel  of  the  stream,  swept 
along  with  the  stream  or  drowned  by  it. 

But  the  advantages  of  the  biographical  method  of  studying 
history  will  always  outweigh  the  disadvantages,  if  due  care 
is  exercised.  "  There  is  one  mode,"  says  Frederic  Harrison 
(The  Meaning  of  History,  p.  22),  "in  which  history  may  be 
most  easily,  perhaps  most  usefully  approached.  Let  him  who 
desires  to  find  profit  in  it,  begin  by  knowing  something  of 
the  lives  of  great  men.  Not  of  those  most  talked  about,  not 
of  names  chosen  at  hazard ;  but  of  the  real  great  ones  who 
can  be  shown  to  have  left  their  mark  upon  distant  ages. 
Know  their  lives,  not  merely  as  interesting  studies  of  char- 
acter, or  as  persons  seen  in  a  drama,  but  as  they  represent 
and  influence  their  age."  And  let  us  know  them,  one  may 
surely  add,  not  merely  as  they  represent  and  influence  their 
own  age  and  people,  but  as  they  stand  related  to  the  history 
of  the  race. 

Nothing  is  harder  than  for  a  modern  to  throw  himself 
into  the  mental  attitude  of  an  ancient.  Fortunately  for  us 
moderns,  the  great  biographer  of  the  ancient  Greek  and 
Roman  world,  while  an  ancient  himself  and  an  "  encyclo- 


PLUTARCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER        3 

paedia  of  Greek  and  Roman  antiquity,"  as  Emerson  called 
him,  was_alsq  a  jnan  of  the  largest  possible  humanity,  and 
has  always  appealed  with  marvellous  power  to  the  greatest 
and  best  modern  minds.  From  the  fifteenth  century  on,  the 
leading  men  of  the  world  have  been  more  influenced  by 
Plutarch's  Lives  than  by  any  book  of  classical  antiquity. 
These  biographies  have  been  "  the  pasture  of  great  souls," 
the  favorite  reading  of  kings  and  commanders;  but  also 
the  delight  of  simple  folk,  of  plain,  "  self-made "  men,  of 
pure  women,  of  aspiring  youth.  A  tone  of  affection  runs 
through  the  appreciations  of  Plutarch  made  by  such  differ- 
ent types  of  men  as  Emerson,  Archbishop  Trench,  and  the 
Honorable  George  Wyndham;  and  many  an  unknown  man 
could  speak  of  Plutarch's  Lives  as  the  eccentric  Thomas 
Hollis  did :  "  a  work  which  at  school  he  read  avidly  at 
times  he  might  have  slept,  and  to  which  he  afterwards 
became  indebted  for  the  honestest  and  fairest  dispositions 
of  his  mind." 

When  the  student  disentangles  himself  from  dates  and 
names  and  minor  details,  and  tries  to  take  into  one  view  the 
whole  sweep  of  ancient  Greek  and  Roman  history,  he  sees  a 
constant  pressure  of  great  streams  of  humanity  conquering 
from  North  to  "South  and  East,  but  periodically  stayed  and 
even  forced  back  by  refluent  waves  of  conquest  toward  North 
and  West.  The  eastern  world-empire  of  the  Persians  is 
pressed  upon  too  hard  by  the  warlike  peoples  along  its 
northern  boundary,  and  the  Scythian  expedition  of  Darius, 
and  the  invasion  of  Europe  by  Xerxes,  the  epic  prose  tale 
of  which  is  told  us  by  the  Father  of  History,  are  refluent 
waves  from  the  southern  sea  of  accumulated  human  culture, 
inundating  for  a  while,  but  driven  slowly  back  by  fresher 
national  vigor  under  Miltiades,  Themistocles,  Pausanias,  and 
Cimon.  Again  the  southward-flowing  stream  gathers  head, 
and,  under  the  Macedonian  Alexander,  sweeps  over  the 
eastern  world.  Refluent  billows  from  the  southern  penin- 
sulas check  or  reverse  the  Gallic  inroads  from  the  North, 
and  then  the  Roman  flood  of  conquest  in  its  turn  sweeps 


4  INTRODUCTION 

over  Greece  and  the  East  Refluent  billows,  again,  of 
Roman  legions  under  Caesar,  Agricola,  and  Trajan,  surge 
over  Germany,  Gaul,  Britain,  and  Dacia,  but  the  next 
great  southward-heading  flood,  that  of  Goths  and  Visigoths, 
submerges  the  Roman  Empire. 

Plutarch  lived  after  the  Roman  flood  of  conquest  had 
swept  over  his  native  Greece,  and  wliile  the  Roman  Empire 
was  making  successful  headway  against  the  ever  accu- 
mulating streams  of  vigorous  barbarism  from  the  North. 
He  lived,  that  is,  at  a  period  of  poise  in  the  vast  conflicts 
between  the  races  of  the  South  and  North  which  constitute 
ancient  history,  when  the  culture  and  wealth  which  man  had 
won  were  still  able  to  defend  themselves.  He  lived  to  do  his 
best  work  on  the  threshold  of  that  fairest  of  ages  since  the 
fabled  age  of  gold,  the  age  of  the  Antonines.  The  years  50 
— 120  A.  D.  probably  cover  his  life.  As  a  university  student 
of  sixteen  at  Athens,  he  saw  bloody  Nero  wear  the  imperial 
purple ;  as  a  young  man,  the  gloomy  Domitian ;  in  his  middle 
age,  great  Trajan;  and  in  his  last  days  he  must  have 
welcomed  to  the  succession  the  brilliant  Hadrian. 

Of  this  age,  of  the  better  life  which  still  survived  in  Greece 
and  the  Greek  world  in  this  Indian  summer  of  its  history, 
Plutarch  is  the  best  spokesman.  He  tells  better  than  any 
one  else  of  that  last  renascence  of  all  the  good  forces  in  the 
ancient  world  which  followed  a  long  carnival  of  "  scarlet 
vices"  and  swift  decay,  and  preceded,  or  even  paved  the 
way  for  the  gradual  and  unsuspected  assumption  of  control 
by  the  new,  lowly,  and  therefore  most  comprehensive  religion 
of  the  Christ.  Plutarch  shows  no  sign  of  acquaintance  with 
Christianity.  Longer  residence  at  Rome,  and  greater  famil- 
iarity with  the  many  lines  of  influence  diverging  from  and 
converging  upon  that  focus  of  the  world,  might  have  brought 
this  gentle,  devout  pagan,  this  "anima  naturaliter  Christi- 
ana," into  contact  with  that  principle  of  religious  life  which 
absorbed  the  best  of  paganism  into  its  vigorous,  supplanting 
growth.  He  would  certainly  have  brought  to  the  contact  a 
soul  readier  for  reception  of  the  essence  of  the  new  world- 


t 

PLUTARCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER        5 

religion  than  did  the  brilliant  Lucian,  who  followed  him 
by  only  a  few  years.  Plutarch  was  one  of  those  lights  of 
the  ancient  world  whose  fate  in  the  hereafter  was  matter  of 
affectionate  concern  to  kindred  spirits  of  a  later  time  who  had 
accepted  the  Christian  dogmas  of  the  Judgment.  "  It  was 
his  severe  fate,"  says  the  editor  of  the  Morals  in  1718,  in 
a  sentence  which  Emerson  is  unwilling  to  have  lost,  "  to 
flourish  in  those  days  of  ignorance  which,  'tis  a  favor- 
able opinion  to  hope  that  the  Almighty  will  sometime 
wink  at;  that  our  souls  may  be  with  these  philosophers 
together  in  the  same  state  of  bliss." 

Plutarch  was  Greek  to  the  core.  He  gloried  in  the  past 
history  of  his  country,  and  in  the  heritage  of  his  race,  and  all 
the  more  because  of  present  poverty  and  degradation.  He 
looked  upon  the  Eoman  conquest  much  as  Polybius  did,  as  a 
beneficent  necessity.  Polybius  introduced  their  conquerors 
to  the  Greeks,  in  the  hope  that  futile  resistance  to  inevitable 
conquest  might  cease.  Plutarch  introduced  the  Greeks  to 
their  conquerors,  when  conquest  had  bred  forgetfulness 
and  contempt;  when  the  vast  upheavals  of  the  civil  wars, 
and  the  gigantic  figures  of  Sulla  and  Marius,  of  Pompey  and 
Csesar,  of  Antony  and  Augustus  had  dwarfed  older  protag- 
onists in  the  drama  of  history.  But  though  his  relations 
to  Athens  and  Rome  were  like  those  of  an  Alsatian  of 
to-day  to  Paris  and  Berlin,  there  is  not  the  faintest  trace 
of  bitterness,  in  all  that  he  has  written,  toward  the  relentless 
and  masterful  policy  of  Rome.  Athens  was  still  the  intel- 
lectual centre  of  the  world,  though  Rome  had  become  the 
political  centre.  To  both  centres  Plutarch  was  perfectly 
true. 

Familiar  as  he  was  with  both,  he  was  bom,  spent  the 
most  of  his  days,  and  probably  died  in  a  small  country 
town  of  Boeotia  called  Chseroneia.  It  overlooked  a  plain 
on  which  many  armies  had  fought,  so  that,  even  before 
Philip's  victory  there  in  338  B.C.,  Epaminondas  called  it 
the  "  dancing-floor  of  Ares ; "  but  the  town  itself  was  of  no 
prominence.  Small  and  humble  as  it  was,  Plutarch  loved 


6  INTRODUCTION 

it,  and  even  after  the  years  and  his  philosophical  essays 
had  brought  him  a  modest  fame,  and  his  plans  for  literary 
labor  urgently  demanded  that  he  make  his  home  in  some 
literary  centre,  he  would  not  leave  it,  lest  he  diminish  its 
small  population  by  one.  "If  any  man,"  he  says,  in  the 
introduction  to  his  Demosthenes,  "  undertake  to  write  a  his- 
tory, that  has  to  be  collected  from  materials  gathered  by 
observation  and  the  reading  of  works  not  easy  to  be  got  at 
in  all  places,  nor  written  always  in  his  own  language,  but 
many  of  them  foreign  and  dispersed  in  other  lands,  for  him, 
undoubtedly,  it  is  in  the  first  place  and  above  all  things  most 
necessary  to  reside  in  some  city  of  good  note,  addicted  to 
liberal  arts,  and  populous ;  where  he  may  have  plenty  of  all 
sorts  of  books,  and  upon  enquiry  may  hear  and  inform  him- 
self of  such  particulars  as,  having  escaped  the  pens  of 
writers,  are  more  faithfully  preserved  in  the  memories  of 
men,  lest  his  work  be  deficient  in  many  things,  even  those 
which  it  can  least  dispense  with.  But  as  for  me,  I  live 
in  a  little  town,  where  I  am  willing  to  continue,  lest  it 
should  grow  less"  (Dryden-Clough  translation). 

The  few  facts  in  the  unobtrusive  career  of  this  Prince  of 
Biographers  which  can  be  gleaned  from  his  own  voluminous 
writings  are  as  follows.  He  was  educated,  as  we  should  say, 
at  Athens,  —  an  attractive  university-town  in  his  day  for 
both  Greeks  and  Eomans.  He  was  once  a  deputy  from  his 
native  town  to  the  Roman  governor  of  the  province  of 
Greece.  He  travelled  extensively  over  Greece,  visited  Asia 
Minor,  Egypt,  and  Italy,  and  resided  some  time  at  Rome. 
Here  he  was  in  charge  of  public  business,  —  for  the  eyes  of 
all  Greeks  were  turned  on  Rome  in  political  matters,  —  so  that 
he  had  not  time  to  learn  thoroughly  the  Latin  language,  as 
he  himself  confesses  in  the  introduction  to  his  Demosthenes. 
But  he  did  not  need  it.  Greek  was  the  language  of  literary 
and  polite  society  at  Rome,  and  cultivated  Greeks,  especially 
philosophers,  were  welcome  there.  As  philosopher,  a  pop- 
ularizer  of  Platonism,  Plutarch  read  and  lectured  at  Rome, 
much  as  he  did  in  the  small  circle  of  his  intimates  and 


PLUTARCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER        7 

friends  at  home.  He  made  and  retained  acquaintance  with 
prominent  Eomans  of  his  day,  although  in  this  regard  his 
good  fortune  was  not  so  remarkable  as  that  of  Polybius,  who 
was  the  ultimate  friend  and  follower  of  Scipio  the  Younger. 
After  Athenian  education,  generous  travel,  mild  diplomacy, 
modest  literary  celebrity,  and  considerable  residence  at 
Rome,  Plutarch  seems  to  have  retired  to  his  little  country 
town  with  his  books,  notes,  lectures,  essays,  and  gentle  phil- 
osophy, and  there,  in  a  leisure  not  greatly  encroached  upon 
"by  local  magistracies  and  certain  religious  offices  at  neigh- 
boring Delphi,  to  have  elaborated  the  sketches  of  his  lectures 
and  essays,  and  composed  the  work  on  which  his  fame 
chiefly  rests,  —  the  Parallel  Lives  of  Greeks  and  Romans. 

Before  speaking  of  these,  however,  a  word  must  be  said, 
and,  under  the  limitations  of  this  brief  introduction,  hardly 
more  than  a  word,  of  that  collection  of  Plutarch's  writings 
which  has  come  down  to  us  under  the  name  of  Morals. 
These  are  miscellaneous  essays,  chiefly  of  an  ethical  range, 
on  a  great  variety  of  topics.  In  comparison  with  the  Lives, 
they  are  now  much  neglected,  and  yet  one  never  reads  from 
them  without  protesting  against  the  neglect.  As  composed, 
for  the  greater  part,  before  the  Lives,  they  are  an  invaluable 
prelude  to  and  commentary  on  them,  especially  if  we  would 
know  just  what  manner  of  man  the  author  of  the  Lives  was. 
They  tell  us,  as  the  Lives  do  not,  "of  the  points  of  view, 
moral  and  religious,  from  which  he  contemplated  not  this 
man's  life,  or  the  other's,  but  the  whole  life  of  men.  Nor  is 
it  too  much  to  affirm  that  of  the  two  halves  of  Plutarch's 
writings,  of  his  Lives  and  his  Morals,  each  constitutes  a  com- 
plement of  the  other ;  the  one  setting  forth  to  us,  and,  so  far 
as  this  was  possible,  from  ideal  points  of  view,  what  the 
ancient  world  had  accomplished  in  the  world  of  action,  and 
the  other  what,  in  like  manner,  it  had  aimed  at  and  accom- 
plished in  the  world  of  thought"  (Trench,  Plutarch,  p.  90). 
For  fuller  description  of  these  essays  the  reader  should  go 
to  Emerson  or  Trench.  The  sphere  in  which  they  move, 
however,  can  be  shown  by  citing  freely  from  the  titles 


8  INTRODUCTION 

which  they  bear.  There  are  some  eighty-three  in  alL  It  is 
impossible  to  classify  them  accurately.  Some  are  distinctly 
ethical,  some  philosophical,  some  scientific,  in  our  narrower 
sense  of  the  word,  some  theological,  some  social,  some 
aesthetic  and  literary,  —  a  well-read  man's  causeries,  some 
historical  and  political.  Many  are  evidently  mere  collections 
of  material  for  subsequent  elaboration.  The  range  of  subject 
in  them  fully  justifies  Emerson's  summary :  "  Whatever  is 
eminent  in  fact  or  in  fiction,  in  opinion,  in  character,  in 
institutions,  in  science  —  natural,  moral,  or  metaphysical,  or 
in  memorable  sayings,  drew  his  attention  and  came  to  his 
pen  with  more  or  less  fulness  of  record."  There  are  essays 
on  The  Training  of  Children,  Tranquillity  of  Soul,  Brotherly 
Love,  Parental  Love,  Garrulity,  Curiosity,  Love  of  Wealth, 
Bashfulness,  Self-praise,  Fortune,  Oracles,  Delays  in  the 
Divine  Judgment ;  How  to  know  a  Flatterer  from  a  Friend, 
How  one  can  be  aided  by  one's  Enemies;  Beading,  Exile, 
Old  Age  and  Politics ;  Apothegms  and  Symposia,  antiquarian 
Questions,  political,  conjugal,  and  military  Precepts ;  analyses 
of  mysterious  religious  cults ;  a  tender  letter  of  consolation 
to  his  wife  on  the  death  of  a  child;  philosophical  treatises 
against  Stoics  and  Epicureans  and  in  defence  of  Platonism  ; 
literary  critiques  on  Herodotus  and  Aristophanes ;  a  collec- 
tion of  love  stories ;  a  tract  on  the  avoidance  of  debt ; 
another  on  the  eating  of  meats;  a  Discourse  to  an  Un- 
lettered Prince ;  discussions  of  questions  which  might  have 
occupied  the  attention  of  old-fashioned  debating  societies, 
such  as  Whether  Athens  was  more  distinguished  in  Letters 
or  in  War,  Whether  Water  or  Fire  be  most  useful,  Whether 
't  were  rightly  said :  "  Live  concealed."  The  gamut  of  the 
Morals  is  astonishing  in  its  range. 

But  it  is  with  the  Lives  that  we  are  now  chiefly  concerned, 
and  even  in  these,  as  will  be  seen,  Plutarch  is  far  more 
moralist  than  historian.  The  Greece  of  which  he  was  so 
loyal  a  son,  after  passing  under  Roman  sway,  lost  sight  grad- 
ually of  her  great  men  of  action,  and  contented  herself  with 
the  glories  of  her  men  of  thought.  Here  surely  the  dominant 


PLUTARCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER        9 

Eomans  could  not  vie  with  her.  With  Eoman  law,  Eoman 
armies,  Eoman  statesmanship  and  oratory  in  the  ascendancy, 
it  was  of  Numa,  Caesar,  Cato,  and  Cicero  that  men  most 
readily  thought  in  Plutarch's  time.  In  order  to  prove  that 
the  more  remote  past  of  Greece  could  show  its  lawgivers, 
commanders,  statesmen,  patriots  and  orators  as  well  as 
the  nearer  and  therefore  more  impressive  past  of  Eome, 
the  Parallel  Lives  were  written.  With  Scipio  Africanus  the 
Elder,  the  greatest  man  of  Eome,  Plutarch  matched  Epamin- 
ondas,  the  greatest  man  of  Greece.  This  pair,  or  "  book  "  of 
lives  is  unfortunately  lost.  With  Camillus,  who  saved  Eome 
from  the  Gauls,  he  matched  Themistocles,  who  saved  Athens 
from  the  Persians.  Then  followed,  as  nearly  as  the  order 
can  be  determined,1  —  for  the  order  of  the  Lives  in  our  col- 
lection is  not  the  original  one,  —  the  Cimon  and  Lucullus, 
the  Lycurgus  and  Numa,  the  Demosthenes  and  Cicero,  the 
Pelopidas  and  Marcellus,  the  Lysander  and  Sulla,  the  Aratus 
and  the  lost  Scipio  Africanus  the  Younger,  the  Philopcemen 
and  Flamininus,  the  Pericles  and  Fabius  Maximus,  the 
Aristides  and  Cato  Major,  and  thirteen  other  pairs.  Eigh- 
teen of  the  twenty-two  pairs  which  have  come  down  to  us 
close  with  a  formal  comparison  of  the  two  careers  and  char- 
acters, often  fanciful  and  forced,  seldom  of  any  special  value. 
There  are  also  three  single  Lives  in  our  collection,  Artaxerxes, 
Galba,  and  Otho,  and  we  get  traces  of  twelve  more  that  are 
now  lost.  One  of  the  pairs  is  a  double  one,  where,  to  match 
the  two  Gracchi,  Plutarch  selects  the  two  reforming  Spartan 
kings  Agis  and  Cleomenes. 

How  impartially  Plutarch  holds  the  scales  between  Greek 
and  Eoman,  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  it  is  still  a  dis- 
puted question  whether  his  object  in  writing  the  Parallel 
Lives  was  to  convince  reluctant  Greeks  that  there  were 
Eomans  who  could  well  bear  comparison  with  the  greatest 
Greeks,  or  to  remind  the  too  complacent  Eomans  that, 
though  the  world  was  now  in  their  strong  hands,  subject 

1  See  Adolf  Schmidt,  Das  Perikleische  Zeitalter,  II.  108  ff.  ;  Wachsmuth, 
A  lie  Geschichte,  pp.  215  f. 


10  INTRODUCTION 

Greece  could  show  on  her  roll  of  honor  men  with  whom 
the  greatest  Eomans  might  be  proud  to  be  compared.  The 
latter  view  is  probably  the  correct  one.  With  all  his  friendli- 
ness to  Rome  and  acquiescence  in  the  great  mission  which  she 
was  performing,  Plutarch  remained  still  a  Hellenic  patriot. 
Archbishop  Trench  puts  the  case  none  too  strongly  when  he 
says :  "  Plutarch  remains  ever  a  Greek,  a  Theban  still  more 
than  a  Greek,  and  a  Chseroneian  still  more  than  a  Theban  " 
(Plutarch,  p.  85). 

Plutarch  was  a  voluminous  writer,  an  extensive  reader, 
and  a  good  talker,  —  a  conversationalist  of  the  highest  rank. 
His  sources  were  monumental,  —  the  eloquent  material  struc- 
tures of  the  many  places  which  he  visited ;  literary,  —  the 
Greek  poets,  philosophers,  orators,  biographers,  and  historians, 
with  whom  he  was  amazingly  familiar ;  and  oral,  —  the  polite 
gossip  of  the  literary  circle,  the  secrets  of  familiar  intercourse, 
the  oral  transmissions  of  family  history  not  yet  recorded  for 
public  use.  He  quotes  from  some  two  hundred  and  fifty 
Greek  authors,  eighty  of  whom  are  known  to  us  only  by 
name,  and  many  more  only  by  the  citations  from  them 
which  he  makes.  The  extract  from  the  introduction  to  his 
Demosthenes  made  above  (p.  6)  shows  clearly  that  in  his  retire- 
ment at  Chaeroneia  he  lacked  library  facilities,  and  was  forced 
to  depend  on  his  memory  or  his  note-books  for  much  of  the 
material  which  he  dispenses  with  so  generous  a  hand.  "VVe  must 
expect  therefore  to  find  in  him,  what  the  investigation  of  his 
sources  for  each  particular  Life  will  show  in  greater  or  less 
degree,  a  tendency  to  cite  at  second  hand.  This  practice  can 
be  proved  in  his  use  of  so  great  an  authority  as  Aristotle, 
and  must  not  unduly  surprise  us  in  his  use  of  Herodotus 
and  Thucydides.  Literary  property,  literary  methods,  and 
literary  ethics  were  all  in  a  rudimentary  stage  of  develop- 
ment in  Plutarch's  time.  But  when  compared  with  some  of 
his  contemporaries  or  successors,  he  is  conspicuous  for  his 
fidelity  and  trustworthiness  in  dealing  with  his  sources.  It 
is  true,  as  Emerson  says  (Introduction,  p.  xiii),  that  "  in  his 
immense  quotation  and  allusion,  we  quickly  cease  to  dis- 


PLUTARCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER       11 

criminate  between  what  he  quotes  and  what  he  invents." 
And  Plutarch  does  unquestionably  invent,  even  when  he 
would  appear  to  be  recounting  history.  Moreover,  it  must 
be  frankly  admitted  that  he  has  little  if  any  scientific  method 
as  a  historian.  He  will  be  found  preferring  an  anecdotical 
history,  crammed  with  the  inventions  and  accretions  of  cen- 
turies of  transmission  from  an  original  source,  to  the  original 
source  itself,  even  though  that  be  easily  accessible.  This  for 
detail ;  on  vital  points  he  will  also  be  found  true  to  the  best 
sources  at  his  command.  And  he  is  more  particular  than 
almost  any  other  ancient  writer  to  let  his  reader  know  what 
authority  he  is  following.  By  careful  study  the  later  tradi- 
tion which  he  uses  can  be  separated  from  the  earlier,  at  least 
in  a  majority  of  cases,  and  his  reader  thus  put  in  a  position 
to  correct  undue  bias,  and  eliminate  error.  How  exacting 
Plutarch  can  be  of  others  in  the  matter  of  giving  authority 
for  startling  statements,  may  be  seen  in  his  Aristides,  xxvi.  2. 
For  the  story  that  Aristides  died  somewhere  in  Ionia,  and 
under  sentence  for  bribery,  Craterus,  a  Macedonian  compiler 
of  legal  decrees,  who  wrote  in  the  third  century  B.C.,  is 
responsible.  "  But  Craterus  furnishes  no  documentary  proof 
of  this,  —  no  judgment  of  the  court,  no  decree  of  indictment, 
—  although  he  is  wont  to  record  such  things  with  all  due  ful- 
ness, and  to  adduce  his  authorities."  And  yet  Plutarch  is  at 
a  long  remove  from  dogmatism.  On  disputed  points  he  cites 
his  evidence  fully,  and  takes  his  stand,  as  in  the  opening 
chapter  of  his  Aristides,  but  he  has  no  menace  for  the  reader 
who  cannot  stand  with  him. 

To  sum  up  briefly,  then,  on  this  all-important  point, , 
Plutarch's  sources  are  manifold,  though  not  always  cited 
directly ;  they  are  frequently  to  be  made  out,  in  one  way  or 
another,  so  that  the  late  and  secondary  can  be  separated  from 
the  original  and  primary  sources ;  and  they  are  not  imposed 
dogmatically  on  the  reader.  What  is  still  more  worthy  of 
note,  Plutarch's  use  of  his  sources  often  contributes  our  only 
knowledge,  or  increases  our  scanty  knowledge  of  them. 
"He  is  a  direct  authority,  in  his  Biographies,  for  nothing, 


12  INTRODUCTION 

but  the  only  substitute  we  can  get  for  a  crowd  of  lost  writers 
of  the  highest  authority  "  (Freeman,  Methods  of  Historical 
Study,  p.  222). 

The  aims  and  methods  of  Plutarch  in  writing  biography 
may  best  be  learned  from  his  own  statements,  and  from 
analysis  of  his  Lives.  "  It  was  for  the  sake  of  others,"  he 
says  in  the  introduction  to  his  Timoleon, "  that  I  first  com- 
menced writing  biographies;  but  I  find  myself  proceeding 
and  attaching  myself  to  it  for  my  own;  the  virtues  of  these 
great  men  serving  me  as  a  sort  of  looking-glass,  in  which  I 
may  see  how  to  adjust  and  adorn  my  own  life.  Indeed,  it 
can  be  compared  to  nothing  but  daily  living  and  associating 
together ;  we  receive,  as  it  were,  in  our  enquiry,  and  enter- 
tain each  successive  guest,  view  '  their  stature  and  their  qual- 
ities/ and  select  from  their  actions  all  that  is  noblest  and 
worthiest  to  know."  In  the  introduction  to  his  Alexander 
he  says :  "  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  my  design  is  not  to 
write  histories  but  lives.  And  the  most  glorious  exploits  do 
not  always  furnish  us  with  the  clearest  discoveries  of  virtue 
or  vice  in  men ;  sometimes  a  matter  of  less  moment,  an 
expression  or  a  jest,  inform  us  better  of  their  characters  and 
inclinations  than  the  famous  sieges,  the  greatest  arma- 
ments, or  the  bloodiest  battles  whatsoever.  Therefore  as 
portrait-painters  are  more  exact  in  the  lines  and  features  of 
the  face,  in  which  the  character  is  seen,  than  in  the  other 
parts  of  the  body,  so  I  must  be  allowed  to  give  my  more  par- 
ticular attention  to  the  marks  and  indications  of  the  souls  of 
men,  and,  while  I  endeavor  by  these  to  portray  their  lives,  may 
be  free  to  leave  more  weighty  matters  and  great  battles  to  be 
treated  of  by  others."  When  he  begins  his  Nicias  and  finds 
his  chief  authority  to  be  the  matchless  story  of  Thucydides, 
he  entreats  his  reader  "  in  all  courtesy  not  to  think  that  I 
contend  with  Thucydides  in  matters  so  pathetically,  vividly, 
and  eloquently,  beyond  all  imitation,  and  even  beyond  him- 
self, expressed  by  him.  Such  actions  in  Nicias'  life  as 
Thucydides  and  Philistus  have  related,  since  they  cannot  be 
passed  by,  illustrating  as  they  do  most  especially  his  char- 


PLUTAKCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER       13 

acter  and  temper  under  his  many  and  great  troubles,  that  I 
may  not  seem  altogether  negligent,  I  shall  briefly  run  over. 
And  such  things  as  are  not  commonly  known,  and  lie  scattered 
here  and  there  in  other  men's  writings,  or  are  found  among 
the  old  monuments  and  archives,  I  shall  endeavor  to  bring 
together,  not  collecting  mere  useless  pieces  of  learning,  but 
adducing  what  may  make  his  disposition  and  habit  of  mind 
understood." 

That  Plutarch  was  kind  though  not  blind  to  the  failings 
of  his  heroes,  may  be  seen  from  the  charming  confession  in 
the  opening  of  his  Cimon  (c.  ii).  "  As  we  would  wish  that 
a  painter  who  is  to  draw  a  beautiful  face,  in  which  there 
is  yet  some  imperfection,  should  neither  wholly  leave  out, 
nor  yet  too  pointedly  express  what  is  defective,  because  this 
would  deform  it,  and  that  would  spoil  the  resemblance ;  so, 
since  it  is  so  hard,  and  perhaps  impossible,  to  show  the  life 
of  a  man  wholly  free  from  blemish,  in  all  that  is  excellent 
we  must  follow  truth  exactly,  and  give  it  fully ;  and  lapses 
or  faults  that  occur,  through  human  passions  or  political 
necessities,  we  may  regard  rather  as  the  shortcomings  of 
some  particular  virtue  than  as  the  natural  effects  of  vice; 
and  may  be  content  without  introducing  them,  curiously  and 
officiously,  into  our  narrative,  if  it  be  but  out  of  tenderness 
to  the  weakness  of  nature,  which  has  never  succeeded  in 
producing  any  human  character  so  perfect  in  virtue  as  to  be 
free  from  all  admixture  and  open  to  no  criticism." 

Plutarch's  Lives,  then,  are  not  historical,  but  ethical,  and 
to  a  large  extent  ideally  ethical  portraits,  like  the  Platonic 
Socrates.  Their  author  culls  from  the  mass  of  tradition  at 
his  disposition  those  items  which  serve  him  as  effective 
colors  for  his  portraits.  For  consecutive,  consistent  narra- 
tive of  events ;  for  chronology,  political  evolutions,  diplomatic 
combinations,  social  problems ;  for  the  processes  of  history, 
in  a  word,  Plutarch  has  no  eye.  But  for  the  moral  products 
of  history  he  is  carefully  on  the  watch.  His  Lives  therefore 
illustrate  his  Morals.  They  are  to  some  extent  ethical 
romances,  like  Xenophon's  Cyropcedia.  If  used  as  historical 


14  INTRODUCTION 

authority,  therefore,  it  is  necessary  to  sift  their  fact  from 
their  fancy,  so  far  as  it  is  now  possible  to  do  it.  But  the 
sifting  process  must  not  be  allowed  to  mar  the  work  of  art. 

It  is  no  surprise  to  find  that  the  personal  anecdote  plays  a 
great  part  in  Plutarch's  biographies.  Indeed,  herein  lies,  in 
great  measure,  their  undying  charm.  But  the  personal  anec- 
dote, even  in  our  own  times,  is  the  most  suspicious  part  of 
historical  tradition.  Anecdotes  are  so  readily  invented,  or 
transferred  from  one  personality  to  another  with  the  nec- 
essary adaptations,  or  from  one  purpose  in  illustration  to 
another,  that  more  than  the  usual  amount  of  good  evidence 
is  demanded  to  establish  their  authenticity.  Around  a  great 
personality,  like  that  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  for  instance,  per- 
sonal anecdotes  multiply  without  limit,  until  it  is  impossible 
to  separate  the  true  from  the  fictitious.  An  eminent  person- 
ality attracts  the  anecdote.  And  as  eminence  usually  comes 
late  in  life,  the  invented  personal  anecdote  deals  largely  with 
details  of  the  earlier  life,  before  eminence  had  brought  fuller 
record  of  the  career,  and  therewith  greater  possibility  of  con- 
futing inventions.  The  humble  acquaintances  of  the  early 
and  obscure  days  are  stimulated  by  the  flattering  attentions 
of  eminence-worshippers  to  tell  all,  and  often  more  than  they 
know  about  those  early  days  when  future  eminence  went  in 
and  out  among  them  unsuspected.  Forgotten  or  fancied 
incidents  must  at  all  hazards  be  made  early  prophecy,  late 
discerned,  of  future  greatness. 

More  doubt  still  attaches  to  the  personal  anecdote  about 
such  far-away  personalities  as  Themistocles  and  Aristides, 
not  simply  because  they  are  so  much  farther  away  from 
their  biographers  than  men  of  later  times,  but  because  his- 
torical interest  in  the  individual  as  distinguished  from  the 
state  did  not  begin  until  Thucydides,  toward  the  close  of  the 
century,  and  Xenophon,  in  the  following  century,  and  did  not 
flourish  until  after  the  state  was  merged  in  great  personalities, 
or  swayed  and  dominated  by  them.  History  at  last  became 
biography  in  Suetonius'  Lives  of  the  Caesars.  The  personal 
anecdote  about  Themistocles,  Aristides,  Cimon,  Pericles, 


PLUTARCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER       15 

Nicias,  Alcibiades,  not  only  reached  Plutarch  through  cen- 
turies of  literary  tradition ;  it  was  likely,  almost  always,  to 
have  started  late  on  its  career,  to  have  been  warped  from  its 
original  form,  or  invented  outright.  The  lack  of  personal 
details  for  the  history  of  these  great  personalities  was  eagerly 
supplied  by  the  invention,  more  or  less  plausible,  of  later 
writers.  As  political  activities  were  denied  the  Greeks  after 
the  Macedonian  and  Roman  conquests,  their  active  minds 
turned  to  the  fields  of  speculation,  rhetoric,  and  romance. 
Old  histories  like  those  of  Herodotus  and  Thucydides 
were  rewritten  in  conformity  with  later  rhetorical  tastes. 
Embellishments  of  every  sort  were  invented  outright,  not 
with  intent  to  deceive,  but  because  embellishment  was 
demanded  at  any  cost.  Next  to  the  set  speech,  —  a  standard 
literary  embellishment  in  Homer,  Herodotus,  and  Thucydides, 
—  the  personal  anecdote  was  most  cultivated,  by  historians, 
rhetoricians,  and  philosophers. 

It  is  a  natural  impulse  to  cast  aside  this  element  of  the 
personal  anecdote,  unless  its  tradition  from  a  contemporary 
source  can  be  clearly  established,  as  worthless  historical 
material.  Material  of  the  highest  grade  it  certainly  is 
not;  but  it  is  by  no  means  worthless.  The  better  the 
story,  the  more  it  must  conform  to  the  prevailing  concep- 
tion of  the  character  upon  whom  it  is  fixed.  "  If  this  was 
really  done  by  Alexander,"  says  the  conscientious  and  criti- 
cal Arrian  (Anabasis,  ii.  12,  8),  "then  I  commend  him  for  it; 
and  if  it  merely  seems  credible  to  his  biographers  that  he 
might  have  done  and  said  these  things,  then  on  this  basis 
too  I  commend  Alexander."  "People  who  invent  a  story," 
says  Freeman  (Methods  of  Historical  Study,  p.  129),  "  will 
commonly  invent  a  story  that  is  likely,  or  at  least  one  which 
they  think  is  likely,  not  one  which  is  manifestly  unlikely." 
The  personal  anecdotes  in  Plutarch  may  therefore  serve  to 
show  what  eminent  writers  of  a  later  day  thought  was  likely 
in  the  case  of  such  distant  personalities  as  Themistocles  and 
Aristides.  The  stories  are  like  garments,  —  good  or  bad,  likely 
or  unlikely,  according  as  they  fit  the  forms  for  which  they 


16  INTRODUCTION 

were  intended.  What  those  forms  were,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
story-makers,  can  be  determined,  in  no  small  measure,  by 
the  stories.  It  need  not  therefore  be  fatal  to  the  usefulness, 
much  less  to  the  enjoyment  of  Plutarch's  stories,  if  his  reader 
know  that  they  are  invented.  It  is  now  matter  of  history 
that  Lincoln,  after  great  travail  of  spirit,  as  leader  of  a  people 
struggling  in  the  agony  of  a  civil  war,  gave  the  official  death- 
blow to  human  slavery  in  the  United  States.  A  ready  hear- 
ing is  therefore  given  to  one  John  Hanks,  a  companion  of 
Lincoln's  early  and  humble  days,  when  he  says  that  on  one 
of  their  flat-boat  trips  to  New  Orleans,  Lincoln  was  so  dis- 
gusted by  the  scenes  at  a  slave  auction  in  that  city  that  he 
said  to  Hanks  with  an  oath  :  "  If  ever  I  get  a  chance  to  hit 
slavery,  I  '11  hit  it  hard."  This  is  a  good  story,  because  it  is, 
on  the  face  of  it,  a  likely  story.  But  it  is  not  a  true  story. 
It  can  be  proved  that  Lincoln  was  never  in  New  Orleans 
with  Hanks.  The  story  was  clearly  invented  after  Lincoln 
had  "  hit  slavery  hard."  It  contains  a  "  vaticinium  post 
eventum." 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  authentic 
personal  anecdote  may  have  escaped  or  been  ignored  by 
primary  authorities  like  Herodotus  and  Thucydides,  and 
made  its  way  essentially  unchanged  down  to  so  late  a  writer 
as  Plutarch.  An  invading  Lacedaemonian  army  under  the 
command  of  the  youthful  Spartan  king  Pleistoanax,  in  445 
B.C.,  apparently  had  Attica  and  Pericles  at  its  mercy,  but 
retired  mysteriously  without  effecting  anything,  and  left 
Pericles'  hands  free  to  subject  Eubcea.  In  the  discreet 
words  of  Thucydides  (L  114),  "they  advanced  as  far  as 
Eleusis  and  Thria,  but  no  farther,  and  after  ravaging  the 
country,  returned  home."  In  Sparta,  King  Pleistoanax  "  was 
thought  to  have  been  bribed."  So  much  Thucydides  is  will- 
ing to  say  (ii.  21;  v.  16),  and  it  looks  like  an  apocryphal 
story  which  Plutarch  tells  in  his  Pericles  (c.  xxiii.) :  "  When 
Pericles,  in  giving  up  his  accounts  of  this  expedition,  stated 
a  disbursement  of  ten  talents,  as  '  laid  out  for  sundry  needs,1 
the  people,  without  any  question,  nor  troubling  themselves 


PLUTARCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER       17 

to  investigate  the  mystery,  freely  allowed  of  it."  If  true,  the 
story  gives  us  the  very  phraseology  of  a  great  fiscal  joke. 
It  seems  too  good  to  be  true.  But  it  gets  striking  corrobora- 
tion  in  the  joke  which  Aristophanes  introduces  into  his 
Clouds  (v.  859),  a  comedy  brought  out  only  a  few  years  after 
the  death  of  Pericles.  A  cynical,  spendthrift  son  asks  his 
dishevelled,  half  crazy  father  what  has  become  of  his  slippers, 
and  the  answer  is  : 

"  As  Pericles  once,  I '  laid  them  out  for  sundry  needs.'  " 

About  423  B.  c.,  therefore,  the  story  told  by  Plutarch  must 
have  been  current  at  Athens. 

Even  in  his  Greek  Lives  Plutarch  relies  much  on  oral 
tradition,  and  when  it  starts  with  contemporaries  of  the  men 
whose  biographies  he  is  writing,  the  testimony  is  most  valu- 
able. In  his  Eoman  Lives,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  he 
depends  yet  more  on  such  testimony.  In  his  Antony,  a 
contemporary  tradition  can  be  clearly  traced  down  to  Plu- 
tarch himself,  and  then  from  Plutarch  to  Shakespeare.  Plu- 
tarch's grandfather,  Lamprias,  was  the  intimate  friend  of  a 
certain  physician,  named  Philotas.  This  Philotas,  when 
a  young  fellow,  studied  medicine  in  Alexandria,  while 
Antony  was  there,  under  the  full  witchery  of  Cleopatra. 
The  young  medical  student  was  intimately  acquainted  both 
with  Antony's  son,  and  with  one  of  Antony's  cooks,  and 
dined  often  at  Antony's  table.  There  could  be  no  better 
authority  for  the  luxury  of  that  table.  "I  have  heard  my 
grandfather  report,"  says  Plutarch  in  his  Antony  (xxviii.  2,  3, 
North's  version),  "  that  one  Philotas,  a  physician,  born  in  the 
city  of  Amphissa,  told  him  that  he  was  at  that  time  in 
Alexandria,  and  studied  physic ;  and  that  having  acquaint- 
ance with  one  of  Antony's  cooks,  he  took  him  with  him  to 
Antonius'  house  to  show  him  the  wonderful  sumptuous 
charge  and  preparation  of  one  only  supper.  When  he  was 
in  the  kitchen,  and  saw  a  world  of  diversities  of  meats,  and 
amongst  others  eight  wild  boars  roasted  whole,  he  began  to 
wonder  at  it,  and  said :  '  Sure  you  have  a  great  number  of 


18  INTRODUCTION 

guests  to  supper.'  The  cook  fell  a-laughing,  and  answered 
him  :  '  No,  not  many  guests,  not  above  twelve  in  alL' " 

This  bit  of  kitchen  gossip  the  young  medical  student, 
Philotas,  tells  his  friend  Lamprias,  on  returning  to  Greece ; 
Lamprias  tells  it  to  his  grandson  Plutarch,  who  records  it  in 
his  Antony  ;  Plutarch's  Life  is  translated  into  Latin  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  this  Latin  version  into  the  French  of  Amyot 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  French  of  Amyot  into  the 
English  of  Sir  Thomas  North,  and  at  last  the  magician 
Shakespeare,  in  his  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  seizes  upon  the 
kitchen  detail  and  puts  it  into  the  mouth  of  Maecenas,  the 
friend  of  Octavius  :  "  You  stayed  well  by  't  in  Egypt,"  says 
Maecenas  to  Enobarbus  (iL  2)  ;  "Aye,  sir,  we  did  sleep  day 
out  of  countenance,  and  made  the  night  light  with  drinking." 

(Maecenas)  "  Eight  wild  boars  roasted  whole  at  a  break- 
fast, and  but  twelve  persons  there ;  is  this  true  ? " 

(Enobarbus)  "This  was  but  as  a  fly  by  an  eagle;  we 
had  much  more  monstrous  matter  of  feast,  which  worthily 
deserved  noting." 

After  such  consideration  of  the  sources  of  Plutarch  in 
writing  his  Lives,  of  his  aims  and  methods,  and  of  the  nature 
of  the  personal  anecdote  which  forms  so  large  a  part  of  his 
work,  the  question  may  be  asked,  What  is  the  value  of  Plu- 
tarch as  an  historian  ? 

As  the  best  exponent,  in  his  Morals,  of  the  better  side  of 
the  rich  classical  culture  which  was  then  approaching  or 
enjoying  its  Indian  summer,  he  is  invaluable  and  indispens- 
able to  the  historian  of  that  time,  but  as  a  direct  historian  of 
his  own  or  any  times,  and  particularly  of  times  long  before 
his  own,  he  is  valuable  as  a  recorder  and  transmitter  of  the 
history  of  history,  rather  than  of  history  itself.  We  may 
find  from  him  what  men  in  successive  generations  have 
thought  and  said  of  Themistocles  and  Aristides,  but  not  so 
well  what  Themistocles  and  Aristides  really  were  and  did 
and  said.  To  do  this,  —  to  get  at  the  real  Themistocles  and 
Aristides  behind  the  ideal  ethical  portraits  of  them  which 
Plutarch  paints,  —  it  is  necessary  to  follow  the  stream  of  his- 


PLUTARCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER       19 

torical  tradition  back  to  its  earliest  sources,  to  determine  if 
possible  the  nature  and  peculiarities  of  those  sources,  and  to 
reconstruct  the  later  estimates  of  the  men  from  the  testimony 
of  those  nearest  to  them  and  best  qualified  to  judge  them. 
In  this  long,  laborious,  but  fascinating  process,  Plutarch 
himself  will  be  the  best  guide,  from  the  very  fulness  of  the 
material  which  he  has  heaped  together.  His  memory  teemed 
with  illustrative  incidents,  and  he  does  not  hesitate  to  digress 
pleasantly  at  the  slightest  suggestion,  or  even  without  any 
apparent  suggestion.  Speaking  of  Aspasia,  in  his  Pericles 
(xxiv.  7),  he  is  reminded  of  Milto,  the  concubine  of  the 
younger  Cyrus,  who  was  re-named  Aspasia.  "She  was  a 
Phocsean  by  birth,  the  daughter  of  one  Hermotimus,  and 
when  Cyrus  fell  in  battle,  was  carried  to  the  King,  and  had 
great  influence  at  court.  These  things  coming  into  my 
memory  as  I  am  writing  this  story,  it  would  be  unnatural 
for  me  to  omit  them." 

It  is  clear  that  even  when  he  is  basing  his  work  on  stand- 
ard and  easily  accessible  authorities,  like  Herodotus,  Thu- 
cydides,  or  Plato,  he  sometimes  relies  upon  his  memory 
instead  of  fresh  reading.  His  formal  citations  also  are  often 
seen  to  be  from  memory.  It  is  free-hand  drawing  in  which 
he  delights.  No  one  who  comes  from  reading  the  Morals 
can  believe  in  the  fixed  and  arbitrary  methods  of  citation 
and  borrowing  which  are  fastened  on  Plutarch  by  much 
recent  criticism  of  the  Lives.  The  intermediate  biographi- 
cal source  so  often  postulated  for  the  changes  in  the  form 
of  earlier  tradition  which  appear  in  Plutarch,  —  a  source 
sometimes  known  hardly  more  than  by  name,  sometimes 
wholly  imaginary,  —  has  been  credited  with  much  of  Plu- 
tarch's own  genial  improvement  of  the  generous  material 
stored  in  his  mind  from  various  reading.  Such  chapters  in 
the  Themistocles  as  vii.  and  xi.  read  like  a  free  combination 
and  blend  by  Plutarch  himself  of  material  from  several 
authors,  and  not  like  an  excerpt  from  any  single  source  in 
which  he  finds  the  combining  and  blending  ready  to  his 
copying  hand.  It  is  true  that  his  method  of  composition  is 


20  INTRODUCTION 

different  in  the  Roman  and  Greek  Lives ;  that  even  in  the 
Greek  Lives  it  changes  from  group  to  group,  and  from  book 
to  book ;  and  that  in  the  Aristides,  between  which  and  the 
Themistocles  eight  Greek  Lives  were  probably  composed,  he 
is  by  no  means  so  generously  eclectic  as  in  the  Themistocles. 
But  even  in  the  Aristides,  where  the  original  sources  fur- 
nished him  scant  personal  material,  it  can  never  be  granted 
that  he  forsook  the  original  sources  entirely,  —  writers  like 
Herodotus  and  Thucydides,  —  and  copied  exclusively  a  blend 
of  those  writers  made  by  Idomeneus,  a  writer  who  is  little 
more  than  a  name  to  us.  Such  a  chapter  in  the  Aristides  as 
xviiL  is  a  composite  of  Herodotus,  Thucydides,  Ephorus, 
and  possibly  Idomeneus,  but  the  composition  is  that  of 
Plutarch,  and  contains  much  that  is  original  with  him. 
Plutarch's  methods  are  by  no  means  those  of  Diodorus 
Siculus.  These  positions,  and  others  kindred  to  them,  will 
be  constantly  illustrated  and  defended  in  the  current  notes. 

It  is  in  this  fulness  of  material,  served  up  to  us  with  the 
prodigality  of  a  wealthy  and  experienced  host,  that  Plutarch 
differs  most  strikingly  from  the  only  other  biographer  of 
antiquity  whom  we  need  now  compare  with  him,  —  Cor- 
nelius Nepos.  Nepos  was  a  Roman,  writing  brief  compends 
of  pragmatic  rather  than  ethical  biography  for  Romans  of 
the  first  century  before  Christ.  Like  Suetonius,  his  desire 
is  to  transmit  the  material,  rather  than  to  make  that  material 
attractive  in  its  form.  He  throws  no  speaking  picture  on 
his  canvas ;  is  brief,  dry,  annalistic,  sparing  and  arbitrary 
in  the  citation  of  his  authorities,  and  shows  nothing  like 
the  literary  zest  which  characterizes  Plutarch.  He  is  a 
Latin  compiler,  from  Greek  sources  rather  poorly  controlled. 
At  times,  however,  he  will  be  found  to  supply  items  of 
tradition  which  would  have  been  lost  but  for  him. 

Attractive  as  are  the  personality  and  the  teachings  of 
Plutarch,  voluminous  and  varied  as  are  his  writings,  fas- 
cinating and  provocative  of  analysis  as  are  his  manner  and 
his  methods  of  composition,  his  Greek  style  in  itself  is  not 
specially  attractive.  For  this  reason,  as  well  as  because 


PLUTARCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER       21 

any  popular  Greek  author  must  be  more  widely  read  in 
translation  than  in  the  original,  but  above  all  because  the 
early  translations  of  Plutarch  into  English,  like  the  trans- 
lations of  the  Scriptures,  are  important  literary  monuments 
of  the  English  language,  —  for  all  these  reasons  Plutarch 
has  been  mostly  read  by  English-speaking  people  in  Eng- 
lish translations.  Both  Morals  and  Lives  were  very  for- 
tunate in  their  first  introduction  to  readers  of  English.  The 
translation  of  the  Morals  by  Doctor  Philemon  Holland,  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1603,  and  again  in  1657,  is  an  English 
classic,  and  was  of  great  use  to  Professor  Goodwin  in  his 
revision  of  the  translation  "  by  Several  Hands,"  published  in 
London  in  successive  editions  from  1684  to  1718.  So  the 
translation  of  the  Lives  by  Sir  Thomas  North,  which  appeared 
as  early  as  1579,  served  as  a  mine  of  resource  and  suggestion 
to  Clough  in  his  revision  of  the  so-called  "  Dryden  "  translation, 
as  it  has  served  and  always  will  serve  every  and  any  trans- 
lator of  the  Lives.  It  is  true  that  North  did  not  render  from 
the  original  Greek,  but  from  Amyot's  French  version,  and 
that  he  reproduced  Amyot's  errors,  and  made  errors  of  his  own. 
But  Amyot's  version  was  of  the  highest  order.  It  is  the  earliest 
French  classic  recognized  by  the  French  Academy.  And 
North's  English  translation  of  this  French  classic  is  a  monu- 
ment of  the  English  language  second  only  in  importance  to  the 
Authorized  Version  of  the  Bible.  It  is  a  translation  by  the 
earliest  master  of  great  English  prose  from  the  earliest  mas- 
ter of  great  French  prose.  Of  it  George  Wyndham  says,  at 
the  close  of  his  Introduction  to  the  Tudor  edition :  "  Of  good 
English  prose  there  is  much,  but  of  the  world's  greatest 
books  in  great  English  prose  there  are  not  many.  Here  is 
one,  worthy  to  stand  with  Malory's  Morte  Darthur  on  either 
side  of  the  English  Bible." 

This  version  by  Sir  Thomas  North  was  current  for  nearly 
a  century.  It  was  the  Elizabethan  Plutarch.  But  the  changed 
literary  tastes  of  the  age  of  Queen  Anne  demanded  a  new 
version  of  Plutarch  as  of  Homer.  Pope  supplied  the  new 
version  of  Homer's  Iliad,  supplanting  Chapman,  and  lent  his 


22  INTRODUCTION 

great  name  to  a  version  of  the  Odyssey  in  his  style  by  other 
hands.  Dryden  was  "  prevailed  upon  by  his  necessities  "  to 
head  a  company  of  translators  of  Plutarch's  Lives.  He  him- 
self supplied  merely  the  Preface  and  Life  of  Plutarch,  but 
the  version  was  called  by  his  name.  Strange  to  say,  in  spite 
of  great  inferiority  in  many  ways  to  the  version  of  North,  it 
held  its  own,  aided  by  two  revisions  of  more  or  less  thorough- 
ness, and  even  superseded  North's. 

Both  the  North  and  the  "  Dryden  "  translations  were  made, 
either  wholly  or  in  part,  at  second  hand,  and  before  the  Greek 
text  of  Plutarch  had  been  well  edited.  The  first  scholar's 
translation  of  the  Lives  from  the  original  Greek  into  English 
was  published  in  1770  by  the  brothers  John  and  William 
Langhorne,  and  this  was  the  English  version  most  current, 
perhaps,  from  that  time  down  to  1850.  The  aim  of  the 
translators  was  rather  to  be  faithful  to  the  original  Greek 
than  to  write  representative  and  idiomatic  English.  Com- 
pared with  North's  spirited  version,  the  Langhorne  version  is 
dull  and  pedantic,  though  more  accurate.  The  notes,  how- 
ever, are  wholly  antiquated. 

But  the  inheritance  of  natural,  representative  English  even 
in  so  inaccurate  a  translation  as  the  so-called  "  Dryden,"  was 
too  precious  to  be  lost,  and  in  Boston's  noteworthy  attempt 
to  furnish  the  English-speaking  world  with  a  satisfactory 
translation  of  the  entire  body  of  Plutarch's  writings,  the 
revised  seventeenth-century  version  of  the  Morals  "by 
Many  Hands,"  was  given  to  Professor  Goodwin  for  further 
revision,  and  the  revised  seventeenth-century  version  of  the 
Lives,  —  the  "  Dryden  "  translation,  —  to  Arthur  Clough,  that 
winning  representative  of  Oxford's  best  culture  in  the  days 
of  the  great  Tractarian  controversy.  He  began  the  work 
during  the  year  of  his  residence  in  this  country,  1852,  and 
completed  it  after  his  return  to  England.  It  was  more 
or  less  perfunctory  work  for  him,  —  a  "  pot-boiler,"  —  but 
still  his  letters  show  that  he  gradually  became  interested 
in  the  work  for  its  own  sake.  His  revision  of  the  "  Dryden  " 
translation  was  published  in  five  volumes,  by  Little,  Brown, 


PLUTARCH,  THE  BIOGRAPHER       23 

and  Co.,  in  1859,  and  afterwards  in  one  large  volume  by  the 
same  firm  in  1876  and  1880.  It  is  no  insignificant  sign  of 
the  earnestness  of  the  young  literary  life  of  America  in  the 
days  of  the  so-called  "  transcendentalists,"  that  a  Boston  house 
should  successfully  carry  out  so  large  an  undertaking  as 
a  complete  edition  in  ten  octavo  volumes  of  Plutarch's  Lives 
and  Morals,  —  an  edition  which  still  remains  the  best.  For 
the  Dryden-Clough  version  of  the  Lives  is  undoubtedly  the 
best  extant  English  version  for  all  purposes.  There  is  a  ver- 
sion more  recently  published,  that  of  Stewart  and  Long,  in 
the  Bonn's  Classical  Library,  of  four  volumes.  This  incor- 
porated the  scholarly  translation  of  thirteen  Eoman  Lives 
published  by  Professor  Long  in  1844,  the  notes  to  which 
are  of  great  value  even  now.  But  the  translation  of  the 
Greek  Lives  is  distinctly  inferior  to  that  of  the  Dryden- 
Clough  edition.  And  it  is  still  true,  as  Professor  Goodwin  said 
in  his  review  of  the  first  volume  of  the  Stewart  and  Long 
translation  (New  York  Nation,  vol.  xxxi.  pp.  395  ff.),  that 
we  need  a  translation  of  the  Lives  "  which,  without  sacrific- 
ing the  sprightly  flavor  of  the  old  translations,  shall  yet 
answer  the  demands  of  modern  scholarship  more  fully  than 
these  in  accuracy  of  thought  and  expression."  But  Clough's 
revision  of  the  "  Dryden  "  translation  comes  nearer  to  doing 
this  than  any  other. 

The  old  version  of  Sir  Thomas  North,  aside  from  its  many 
intrinsic  excellencies,  will  always  have  one  charm  which 
no  other  translation  can  have.  It  was  the  version  which 
Shakespeare  used.  Shakespeare  certainly  found  Plutarch's 
ethical  portraits  full  of  the  best  dramatic  suggestion  and 
material.  His  Coriolanus,  Julius  Ccesar,  and  Antony  and 
Cleopatra  are  largely  based  on  incidents  in  Plutarch's  Lives 
of  these  and  other  Romans,  and  the  very  phraseology  of  the 
great  dramatist  shows  the  influence  of  the  language  of  North's 
translations.  Mr.  Skeat  published  in  1875  "  Shakespeare's 
Plutarch,"  a  selection  from  the  Lives  in  North's  Plutarch  which 
illustrate  Shakespeare's  plays.  His  text  of  the  Lives  is  based 
on  what  he  believed  to  be  the  very  copy  of  North  which 


24  INTRODUCTION 

Shakespeare  once  owned,  and  which  contains  marginal  notes 
in  what  may  well  have  been  Shakespeare's  handwriting. 

Shakespeare  took  from  North's  Plutarch  not  merely  iso- 
lated details,  like  the  detail  of  kitchen  gossip  cited  above 
(p.  18),  but  whole  pictures,  like  that  voluptuous  picture, — 
perhaps  Plutarch's  best,  —  of  Cleopatra  coming  up  the  Cydnus 
to  meet  Antony.  Here  the  dramatist  is  content  merely  to 
put  North's  prose  into  metrical  form.  And  this  is  surpris- 
ingly different  from  his  treatment  of  other  sources,  as  Arch- 
bishop Trench  has  well  pointed  out  (Plutarch,  pp.  65  f.). 
From  others  he  takes  a  hint,  an  outline,  a  suggestion,  a 
name  or  two,  a  situation,  an  incident.  But  Plutarch  he 
dramatizes.  "What  a  testimony  we  have  to  the  artistic 
sense  and  skill  which  with  all  his  occasional  childlike 
simplicity  the  old  biographer  possesses,  in  the  fact  that 
the  mightiest  and  completest  artist  of  all  times  should 
be  content  to  resign  himself  into  his  hands,  and  simply 
to  follow  where  the  other  leads." 

Of  the  popularity  and  influence  of  the  Parallel  Lives,  little 
more  need  be  said.  For  the  last  three  centuries  the  current 
ideas  about  ancient  history  among  English-speaking  folk  have 
been  drawn  from  them,  and  there  have  been  all  this  while, 
and  still  are,  as  Professor  Goodwin  says,  "  countless  friends 
of  classical  learning  whose  only  bond  of  union  with  Greece 
and  Eome  has  been  their  English  Plutarch,"  For  such, 
Plutarch  needs  only  to  be  translated.  But  it  will  heighten 
the  general  enjoyment  of  such  a  genial  guide  if  those  who 
have  studied  his  methods  and  materials  more  closely  will 
add  to  their  translations  of  this  or  that  Life  some  sug- 
gestions of  the  boundless  wealth  of  literary  tradition,  out 
of  the  confusion  of  which  so  shining  a  precipitate  at  last 
emerged.  And  in  these  days  when  many  who  are  called 
to  study  the  humanities  are  not  chosen,  or  do  not  choose  to 
do  so,  the  friends  of  the  old  humanitarian  culture  must  put 
well  to  the  front  of  their  line  "  the  legate,  the  ambassador, 
and  the  orator  in  behalf  of  those  institutions  whereby  the 
old-time  men  were  rendered  wise  and  virtuous." 


OUTLINE   SKETCH   OF  THE  PERSIAN  WARS     25 


II.   THEMISTOCLES,  AND  THE  TEADITION  OF  HIS 
HISTOEY  IN  PLUTAECH'S  LIFE. 

(a)  OUTLINE  SKETCH  OF  THE  PERSIAN  WARS. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  the  great 
eastern  empire  of  the  Persians  made  three  unsuccessful 
attempts  to  crush  the  European  Hellenes,  whom  we  now 
call  the  Greeks.  The  struggle  lasted  twenty  years,  and 
abounded  in  contrasts  and  surprises.  The  attack  was  made 
by  a  perfectly  centralized  oriental  despotism  of  the  great  river- 
valley  type,  —  such  as  had  flourished  for  ages  independently 
along  the  Nile, — upon  scattered  mountain  peoples  whose 
bonds  of  union  were  religious  and  sentimental  merely.  The 
conflict  was  partly  between  large  masses  of  undisciplined  and 
light-armed  infantry,  aided  by  superb  cavalry,  and  small 
bodies  of  heavily-armed  and  well-trained  footmen;  partly 
between  great  numbers  of  war-ships  propelled  by  fighting 
oarsmen,  and  much  smaller  numbers  of  similar,  but  lighter 
and  nimbler  ships.  Land  and  sea  forces  acted  in  conjunc- 
tion along  a  rugged  and  strongly  indented  coast.  On  the 
side  of  the  East  were  boundless  resources  in  men,  money 
and  equipment,  —  the  accumulated  resources  of  a  world- 
empire  under  beneficent  sway.  The  sole  limitation  here 
was  in  the  ability  to  manage  resources.  On  the  side  of 
the  West  were  inaccessibility,  hardy  mountaineer  vigor, 
and  the  ardor  of  souls  contending  for  the  most  sacred 
objects  in  life. 

The  alleged  cause  of  the  three  invasions  was  the  inter- 
ference of  Athens  and  Eretria  in  the  struggle  between  the 
Ionian  Greeks  of  the  west  coast  of  Asia  Minor  and  the 
imperial  government  of  Darius.  But  this  was  only  one  of 
many  causes,  —  an  occasion  rather  than  a  cause.  Since  the 
floods  of  human  life  kept  encroaching  from  North  and  West 
upon  South  and  East,  the  collision  between  Europe  and  Asia 
was  inevitable.  It  was  in  this  larger  sense  that  the  Persian 


26  INTRODUCTION 

invasions  were  retaliatory.  The  surprising  result  of  the  col- 
lision was  that  the  world-empire  which  stood  guard  over  the 
accumulated  treasures  of  South  and  East,  not  only  failed  to 
push  its  defensive  barriers  farther  to  the  North  and  West, 
but  actually  lost  ground,  and  left  its  gates  open  to  the 
inundating  floods  of  the  next  century. 

The  first  of  the  three  unsuccessful  attempts  to  punish  and 
subdue  European  Hellas  was  made  by  Mardonius,  a  son-in- 
law  of  the  Persian  king  Darius,  toward  the  close  of  the  first 
decade  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  in  492.  It  was  a  mag- 
nificent combined  movement  by  land  and  sea,  in  the  grand 
manner  of  Darius  himself  when  he  invaded  Scythia  some 
twenty  years  earlier.  Fleet  and  army  moved  around  the 
northern  shore  of  the  ^Egean  sea,  mutually  supporting  each 
other.  But  a  disastrous  storm  off  Mount  Athos,  and  the 
hardy  mountain  tribes  of  southern  Macedonia,  thwarted  the 
attempt. 

Learning  wisdom  from  this  failure,  the  Great  King  sent  a 
second  expedition  in  490,  this  time  straight  across  the 
^Egean,  lessening  distance,  economizing  time,  and  elimi- 
nating the  complications  of  the  more  spectacular  combined 
movement  by  land  and  sea,  but  restricting  the  number  of  the 
forces  which  could  operate  on  land  to  the  possibilities  of 
transportation  by  sea.  Even  thus  restricted,  however,  the 
numbers  of  the  invaders  far  surpassed  any  which  Athens 
and  Eretria,  the  ostensible  objects  of  attack,  could  put  into 
the  field.  Eretria  was  taken  and  utterly  destroyed.  Then, 
under  the  guidance  of  Hippias,  the  expelled  tyrant  of  Athens, 
whose  family  had  strong  adherents  still,  both  in  the  city  of 
Athens  and  especially  in  the  district  of  Marathon,  to  the 
northwest  of  the  city,  a  landing  of  troops  was  made  in  that 
plain.  Here  some  ten  thousand  Athenians  and  Platseans, 
under  the  brilliant  generalship  of  Miltiades,  defeated  the 
invaders,  drove  them  upon  their  ships,  confronted  them 
boldly  after  they  sailed  round  and  threatened  Athens  from 
the  South,  and  so  at  last  forced  them  to  go  home  with  the 
more  important  half  of  their  errand  unaccomplished.  No 


OUTLINE   SKETCH  OF  THE  PERSIAN   WARS     27 

victory  for  freedom  has  produced  such,  a  huge  sum  total  of 
inspiration  among  men. 

In  the  third  attempt,  the  Great  King  returned  to  the  more 
spectacular  but  less  manageable  combined  movement  by  land 
and  sea.  "All  Asia  thundered  for  three  years,"  as  Herodotus 
says  (vii.  1),  with  his  vast  preparations,  and  so  the  Greeks 
liked  to  believe.  The  punishment  of  Athens  was  doubt- 
less merged  in  a  scheme  for  establishing  a  strong  European 
frontier-line  for  the  Persian  Empire,  since  the  intervening 
sea  invited  rather  than  stayed  aggression.  But  a  revolt  of 
Egypt  in  486,  and  the  death  of  Darius  in  485,  delayed  the 
European  expedition.  Xerxes  received  it  as  part  of  his 
heritage,  and,  after  quelling  the  Egyptian  revolt,  passed,  in 
the  spring  and  summer  of  481,  with  vast  displays  of  power 
on  land  and  sea,  beyond  the  point  where  the  first  expedition 
under  Mardonius,  in  492,  had  been  checked.  His  multi- 
tudes, whom  certainly  no  man  now  can  number,  whatever 
may  have  been  the  contemporary  possibilities,  were  engineered 
past  the  great  barriers  of  nature,  and  frightened  into  submis- 
sion or  neutrality  all  the  larger  Greek  states  except  Athens 
and  Sparta.  These,  with  their  faithful  allies,  were  crushed 
back  from  their  heroic  stand  on  land  and  sea  at  Thermopylae 
and  Artemisium,  and  Athens  was  captured  and  utterly  de- 
stroyed. But  the  Persian  expedition  was  stopped  from 
farther  and  final  success  by  the  sea-fight  in  the  straits  of 
Salamis,  just  ten  years  after  Marathon.  "  Ten  years  later," 
says  Thucydides  (i.  18),  "  the  Barbarian  returned  with  the 
vast  armament  which  was  to  enslave  Hellas."  The  victory 
at  Salamis  saved  Hellas,  as  that  at  Marathon  had  saved 
Athens.  The  crippled  Persian  fleet  withdrew  for  the  season 
with  the  disappointed  king,  and  Mardonius  was  left  with 
large  forces  of  picked  infantry  to  quarter  himself  for  the 
winter  in  that  part  of  Hellas  already  won,  and  to  resume  the 
offensive  by  land  in  the  spring.  But  Sparta,  Athens,  and 
their  allies,  under  the  consummate  generalship  of  Pausanias, 
crushed  Mardonius  in  the  spring  of  479,  at  Plateea;  then 
the  fleet  of  the  Hellenic  allies  cleared  the  ^Egean  sea  of 


28  INTRODUCTION 

Persian  galleys,  and  Hellas  was  free  to  expand  into  imperial 
dimensions. 

With  the  first  of  these  great  Hellenic  victories,  that  of  the 
Athenian  and  Plataean  heavy-armed  infantry  at  Marathon, 
the  name  of  Miltiades  will  always  be  associated  above  all 
other  names;  with  the  second,  that  of  the  allied  fleet  at 
Salamis,  the  name  of  Themistocles  ;  with  the  third,  that  of 
the  allied  infantry  at  Platsea,  the  name  of  Pausanias.  The 
first  died  at  Athens  under  the  disgrace  of  a  public  condem- 
nation; the  third  was  officially  killed  at  Sparta  for  the 
treason  in  which  he  had  been  detected ;  the  second,  Them- 
istocles, died  at  Magnesia,  in  Asia  Minor,  in  the  service  of 
the  Persian  king,  and  under  condemnation  at  Athens  for 
treason.  He  alone  of  the  three  was  innocent  of  the  charges 
brought  against  him  by  his  countrymen. 

The  general  outline  of  the  larger  events  of  the  Persian 
invasions,  as  briefly  given  above,  is  assumed  by  Plutarch  to 
be  known  to  his  readers,  as  well  as  some  prominent  details. 
He  selects  for  his  life  of  Themistocles  such  additional  details 
from  the  great  story  as  will  specially  illustrate  the  character 
of  that  hero.  He  adds  masses  of  biographical  detail,  mostly 
in  the  shape  of  personal  anecdote,  much  of  which  has  no 
certain  connection  with  the  great  events  of  the  time,  much 
of  which  bears  plainly  the  marks  of  later  manufacture  to 
suit  a  certain  established  type  of  character.  His  Life,  falls 
naturally  into  four  main  divisions :  first,  the  family,  educa- 
tion, and  early  political  life  of  Themistocles,  down  to  the 
ostracism  of  his  rival  Aristides,  —  chapters  L-v. ;  second, 
Themistocles'  participation  in  the  war  from  the  ostracism 
of  Aristides  through  the  battle  of  Salamis  and  the  events 
immediately  following  and  dependent  upon  it,  —  chapters 
vL-xviii. ;  third,  the  career  of  Themistocles  from  his  triumph 
to  his  ostracism,  some  seven  years  later,  —  chapters  xix.-xxii. ; 
and  fourth,  his  exile  for  treason,  his  Persian  career,  his  death 
and  burial,  —  chapters  xxiiL-xxxii  A  brief  analysis  of 
these  four  divisions,  with  more  or  less  tentative  effort  to 
determine  the  sources  from  which  Plutarch  draws  his  ma- 


SOURCES  OF  PLUTARCH'S    THEMISTOCLES    29 

terial,  will  show  how  much  less  demand  upon  our  belief  the 
first  and  last  divisions  are  entitled  to  make  than  the  second 
and  third,  and  how  in  all  four  a  large  apocryphal  element 
has  found  a  place.  This  brief  analysis  will  be  supplemented 
by  the  current  notes,  hi  which  generous  citations  from  the 
possible  or  probable  sources  of  Plutarch  will  be  made,  that 
the  reader  may  judge  for  himself  of  the  manner  and  method 
and  spirit  of  Plutarch's  work. 

(&)   THE  SOURCES  OF  PLUTARCH  IN  HIS  THEMISTOCLES. 

But  before  making  this  brief  preliminary  analysis  of  each 
division  of  the  Life,  it  will  be  necessary  to  determine  the 
sources  of  information  which  were  actually  open  to  Plutarch, 
if  he  took  pains  to  secure  them,  and  to  characterize  them 
briefly ;  not  only  those  whom  he  cites  by  name  as  his  author- 
ity, but  also  those  whom  he  leaves  unnamed,  in  spite  of 
indebtedness  to  them,  and  those  to  whom  he  probably  refers 
in  sundry  vague  plural  terms. 

Plutarch  cites  by  name  in  the  Themistocles  no  less  than 
twenty-eight  authors.  Of  these,  four  were  poets  contempo- 
rary with  the  Persian  Wars  and  with  Themistocles :  Simon- 
ides,  ^Eschylus,  Pindar,  and  Timocreon  of  Ehodes.  These 
four  furnish  what,  with  all  its  paucity,  is  still  the  most 
important  evidence,  both  for  Themistocles'  achievements, 
and  for  the  national  sentiment  toward  him  while  those 
achievements  were  fresh  in  men's  minds.  Other  contempo- 
rary poets  may  have  furnished  evidence  too,  but  what  these 
four  furnished  has  come  down  to  us,  in  part  at  least. 

Simonides  of  Ceos  lived  from  556  to  468  B.  c.,  and  was  an 
admired  and  successful  lyric  poet  at  Athens  for  many  years, 
before,  during,  and  after  the  Persian  Wars.  He  might  be 
called  the  Hellenic  Poet  Laureate  of  the  Persian  Wars.  His 
verses  adorned  the  memories  of  those  who  fell  at  Marathon, 
Thermopylae,  Artemisium,  Salamis,  and  Platsea,  and  heralded 
the  praises  of  the  victors,  as  he  had  earlier  sung  the  praises 
of  victors  in  the  great  games.  Eualcidas,  an  Eretrian  cap- 
tain, slain  by  the  Persians  at  Ephesus,  was  a  man  of  note, 


30  INTRODUCTION 

"  who  had  gained  crowns  at  the  games,  and  received  much 
praise  from  Simonides  of  Ceos"  (Herodotus,  v.  102). 
Simonides  was  a  national,  not  a  local  poet,  filled  with  the 
nobler  inspirations  of  a  successful  national  struggle  against 
foreign  aggression,  and  he  passed  away  before  the  bitter  sec- 
tional quarrels  were  rife  which  culminated  in  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  War.  He  has  naught  but  glowing  praise  for  Salamis 
and  Themistocles. 

JEschylus,  the  great  dramatic  poet  (525-456  B.  c.),  in  his 
Persians,  an  historical  drama  brought  out  in  472,  does  full 
justice  to  Themistocles  as  the  real  author  of  the  victory  at 
Salamis,  under  the  blessing  of  the  gods,  although  the  play 
was  undoubtedly  meant  to  bring  into  higher  appreciation  the 
services  of  Aristides  at  Salamis  and  Plataea.  There  may 
be  exaltation  of  Aristides,  but  there  is  no  depreciation  of 
Themistocles  by  ^Eschylus. 

Pindar  too  (522-442  B.C.),  the  greatest  lyric  rival  of 
Simonides,  and  like  him  also  a  national  rather  than  a  sec- 
tional poet,  in  a  brilliant  ode  (Pyth.,  L  75  ff.)  recognizes 
Athens  as  most  entitled  to  the  glory  of  Salamis,  as  Sparta 
was  to  that  of  Platsea.  He  is  not  chary  of  other  praise  for 
Athens,  as  the  citation  in  chapter  viii.  of  the  Themistocles 
shows.  But  Athens  at  Salamis  was  synonymous  with 
Themistocles. 

The  three  great  poets  contemporary  with  the  Persian 
"Wars,  then,  unite  in  extolling  Salamis  and  Themistocles. 
We  get  no  breath  of  malevolence  from  them.  But  fame 
invites  detraction.  Both  Simonides  and  Themistocles  had 
an  ardent  hater  in  the  athlete,  political  refugee,  and  poet 
Timocreon  of  Rhodes.  The  most  we  know  of  his  poetry  is 
due  to  Plutarch's  citations  from  him  in  chapter  xxi.  of  the 
Themistocles.  What  Simonides  thought  of  him  may  be  seen 
from  the  satiric  epitaph  which  he  composed  for  him :  "  Here 
lies  Timocreon  of  Rhodes,  who  ate  much,  drank  much,  and 
much  abused  his  fellow  men  "  (Bergk,  Poet.  Lyr.  Graeci,  iiL* 
p.  505).  What  Themistocles  thought  of  him  is  plain  from 
the  fact  that  after  the  Hellenic  cause  had  triumphed,  he 


SOURCES   OF  PLUTARCH'S    THEMISTOCLES     31 

refused  to  intercede  with,  the  Ehodians  for  the  recall  of 
Timocreon  from  banishment,  though  he  had  been  his  friend. 
Timocreon  had  "  medised,"  as  Herodotus  would  say,  —  had 
favored  the  Persian  cause  when  things  looked  darkest  for 
Hellenic  freedom,  —  and  his  people  had  therefore  cast  him 
out.  Stung  by  the  refusal  of  Themistocles  to  intercede  in  his 
behalf,  he  venomously  accused  the  great  hero  of  venality  in 
the  matter, —  of  having  been  "bought;"  and  when  the 
political  fortunes  of  Themistocles  were  overwhelmed  by  the 
invincible  coalition  of  Cimon,  Aristides,  and  Sparta  against 
him,  Timocreon  exultantly  turned  upon  him  the  charge  of 
"  medising."  Nothing  could  better  illustrate  the  credulity 
of  malice  than  the  fact  that  the  next  generation  of  Athen- 
ians, the  Athenians  particularly  of  the  Periclean  following, 
from  450  to  430  B.  c.,  actually  believed,  or  pretended  to 
believe  that  Themistocles  had  "  medised  "  in  the  first  flush 
of  his  victory  at  Salamis  (see  the  note  on  Themistocles, 
xvi  1).  With  Timocreon  first  appear  the  charges  of  venality 
and  treachery  which  became  firmly  fixed  in  the  Themistocles 
tradition  from  the  fact  that  Herodotus  afterwards  incorpo- 
rated them  in  his  immortal  story. 

Three  important  sources  of  Plutarch  were  contemporary 
with  Cimon  and  Pericles,  so  far  as  their  literary  testimony 
goes,  and  represent  the  generation  following  Themistocles 
and  the  Persian  wars,  although  the  actual  years  of  their 
lives  may  correspond  with  those  of  Themistocles  to  some 
extent.  These  are  Ion  of  Chios,  Stesimbrotus  of  Thasos, 
and  Herodotus. 

Ion  of  Chios  was  a  brilliant  and  popular  poet  at  Athens 
between  452  and  421  B.  c.,  personally  acquainted  if  not  inti- 
mate with  ^Eschylus,  Sophocles,  Cimon,  and  Pericles.  Be- 
sides his  lyric  and  tragic  poetry,  he  composed  a  prose  work 
entitled  Sojourns,  in  which  he  recounted  his  personal  expe- 
riences at  Athens  and  elsewhere,  particularly  with  famous 
men  of  the  day.  Through  this  delightful  witness  several 
choice  bits  of  authentic  contemporary  testimony  have  come 
down  to  us.  Plutarch  evidently  made  liberal  use  of  him, 


32  INTRODUCTION 

directly  or  indirectly,  in  his  Pericles  and  Cimon.  From  him, 
doubtless,  comes  the  glimpse  which  Plutarch  gives  (in  his 
De  Profectibus  in  Virtute,  8  =  Morals,  p.  79  E)  of  ^Eschy- 
lus  and  Ion  sitting  together  at  the  Isthmian  games,  watching 
a  contest  of  boxers.  Observing  that  whenever  one  of  the 
boxers  was  hit,  the  audience  shouted,  ^Eschylus  nudged  Ion, 
saying :  "  See  what  training  will  do !  The  man  who  is  hit, 
holds  his  peace;  the  spectators  yell."  When  the  scholiast 
on  the  Persians  of  ^Eschylus,  at  v.  429,  notes  that  "  Ion,  in 
his  Sojourns,  says  that  ^Eschylus  was  present  at  the  battle 
of  Salamis,"  it  is  the  best  testimony  possible  to  that  fact. 
Through  Ion  we  get  authentic  testimony  to  the  very  looks 
and  words  of  Cimon  and  Pericles.  In  spite  of  his  aristo- 
cratic sympathies,  which  made  Cimon  especially  the  object 
of  his  admiration,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  only  testimony 
concerning  Themistocles  which  reaches  us  from  him  indi- 
cates merely  that  hero's  lack  of  what  passed  in  those  days 
for  higher  education.  We  may  be  sure  that  such  was  the 
estimate  of  Themistocles  current  in  the  fashionable  and  aris- 
tocratic circles  in  which  Ion  moved. 

But  the  invincible  political  coalition  against  Themistocles 
not  only  ostracized  him  about  472  B.  c.,  it  also  secured  his  con- 
demnation for  treason  about  471,  his  permanent  exile  on 
pain  of  death,  and  the  confiscation  of  his  property.  The 
fact  that  he  found  asylum  at  the  court  of  Persia,  that 
common  refuge  for  expatriated  Greeks,  brought  the  malevo- 
lent charges  of  venality  and  "  medism  "  which  Timocreon 
seems  to  have  been  first  to  set  going,  into  general  accept- 
ance. A  democracy  which  was  led  by  aristocrats  like 
Cimon  and  Pericles  belittled  the  services  and  impugned 
the  motives  of  their  former  comparatively  plebeian  leader. 
Selfish  cunning,  rather  than  the  self-sacrificing  statesman- 
ship which  really  characterized  his  course,  came  to  be  the 
popular  trait  in  the  tradition  of  his  career.  All  manner 
of  current  malevolent  stories  about  Themistocles  were  col- 
lected in  a  political  pamphlet  by  Stesimbrotus  of  Thasos, 
a  sophist  and  rhapsodist  who  achieved  some  note  at  Athens 


SOURCES  OF  PLUTARCH'S    THEMISTOCLES    33 

during  the  times  of  Cimon  and  Pericles.  The  pamphlet  was 
probably  written  about  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  the  Pelo- 
ponnesian  war  (431  B.  c.),  and  served  up  a  mass  of  scandal- 
ous gossip  about  Themistocles,  the  founder  of  the  Athenian 
navy,  and  Pericles,  the  founder  of  the  Athenian  empire,  both 
of  whom  were  objects  of  intense  hatred  to  the  oligarchical 
party,  in  the  interests  of  which  Stesimbrotus  evidently  com- 
piled his  work.  Cimon  and  Thucydides,  son  of  Melesias,  were 
also  treated  in  a  similar  way,  though  the  fragments  of  the 
work  which  have  reached  us  make  it  probable  that  these,  as 
rivals  or  opponents  of  Pericles,  were  handled  with  less  mal- 
evolence. The  work  was  not  a  history  of  the  times,  or  a 
biography  of  the  men  with  whom  it  dealt,  but  a  defamatory 
tract  full  of  spicy  slander.  Its  historical  worth  lies  chiefly 
in  the  glimpse  which  it  gives  into  the  depths  of  partisan 
rancor  at  the  time.  Plutarch  draws  much  material  from  it, 
but  is  usually  averse  to  accepting  its  evidence.  He  used  it 
more  in  the  Cimon  and  Pericles  than  in  the  Themistocles.  It 
is  probably  the  work  which  brings  from  him  the  bitter  com- 
plaint (Pericles,  xiii.) :  "  So  very  difficult  a  matter  is  it  to 
trace  and  find  out  the  truth  of  anything  by  history,  when,  on 
the  one  hand,  those  who  afterwards  write  it  find  long  periods 
of  time  intercepting  their  view,  and,  on  the  other,  the  con- 
temporary records  of  any  actions  and  lives,  partly  through 
envy  and  ill-will,  partly  through  favor  and  flattery,  pervert 
and  distort  truth." 

In  this  atmosphere  Herodotus  evidently  composed  those 
parts  of  his  great  history  where  Themistocles  appears,  as  the 
current  notes  will  fully  show.  He  composed  them  in  Athens 
probably,  and  for  Athenians.  He  reproduces  the  beliefs  and 
feelings  of  the  time  and  place  in  which  he  is  writing,  and 
herein  consists  his  peculiar  worth  as  an  historian.  He  has 
given  high  artistic  form  to  the  reigning  beliefs  of  the  Peri- 
clean  party  at  Athens  concerning  the  Persian  Wars,  one 
generation  of  men  after  the  wars  were  fought  and  the 
greatest  hero  of  those  wars  had  died.  Meanwhile  the  oral 
tradition  of  those  wars,  —  and  the  literary  tradition  of 


34  INTRODUCTION 

them  by  Charon  of  Lampsacus  and  Hellanicus  of  Mitylene  was 
annalistic  and  meagre,  —  had  suffered  the  changes  to  which 
all  oral  tradition  is  naturally  liable,  and,  besides,  was  directly 
acted  upon  by  an  entirely  new  set  of  hates  and  jealousies,  aris- 
ing from  the  growth  of  the  Athenian  empire.  These  tended 
to  distort  and  pervert  the  stories  of  services  to  the  national  Hel- 
lenic cause  formerly  rendered  by  states  now  in  hostile  relations 
to  Athens.  The  old  and  the  new  traditions  subsisted  side  by 
side,  and  Herodotus  often  takes  pains  to  give  them  both,  and 
sometimes  to  correct  the  flagrant  wrongs  of  partisan  tradition. 
For  Argos  and  Corinth  and  ^gina  he  insists  on  correcting 
the  malevolence  of  Athenian  tradition ;  but  for  Boeotia  and 
Thebes  he  does  no  such  service ;  and  with  all  his  candor  and 
fidelity  he  could  not  avoid  tingeing  his  account  of  the  services 
and  exploits  of  Themistocles  with  the  prevailingly  hostile 
beliefs  of  those  among  whom  and  for  whom  he  wrote.  He  was 
largely  dependent  on  oral  tradition,  and  that  which  came  to  his 
ears,  and  which  we  may  suppose  him  to  have  fairly  reproduced, 
was  malevolently  hostile  to  Themistocles.  It  had  not  only 
distorted  the  really  pardonable  diplomatic  deceptions  of 
Themistocles,  but  had  invented  others  which  were  unpar- 
donable. The  shrewdness  and  cunning  which  Themistocles 
had  exercised  for  his  country's  good,  malevolence  made  him 
to  have  exercised  for  his  own  good ;  and  a  connection  with 
Persia  which  no  dreamer  could  possibly  have  imagined  in 
the  days  of  the  glory  of  Salamis,  he  was  now  made  not  only 
to  have  foreseen,  but  to  have  carefully  planned. 

But  after  the  death  of  Cimon  in  449  B.  c.,  and  the  passing 
of  the  glorious  policy  for  which  he  so  long  contended  of  peace 
and  friendship  with  Sparta,  but  aggressive  war  on  Persia,  a 
slow  change  in  the  popular  feeling  toward  Themistocles  can 
be  traced,  which  culminates  in  a  complete  revulsion.  The 
new  era  favored  peace  with  Persia,  and  even  alliance,  but 
war  with  Sparta.  It  was  this  arch-enemy  of  the  new  Peri- 
clean  era  which  had  brought  unsubstantiated  charges  of 
treachery  against  Themistocles,  and  joined  his  political 
foes  at  Athens  in  hunting  him  from  the  country.  And 


SOURCES   OF  PLUTARCH'S    THEMISTOCLES    35 

the  Athenian  navy,  on  which  she  placed  her  mam  reliance 
in  this  new  era,  especially  after  her  defeat  at  Coroneia  (447), 
and  the  Thirty  Years'  Peace  (445),  was  the  creation  of 
Themistocles.  No  malice  had  even  tried  to  belittle  or 
besmirch  that  eminent  service.  Besides,  if,  in  making  head 
against  the  hated  domestic  rival,  Athens  came  into  touch 
with  Greek  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  she  found  that  among  some 
of  them,  at  least,  the  memory  of  Themistocles  was  honored 
for  beneficent  services  which  bespoke  an  abiding  love  of  his 
native  country  (see  the  notes  on  Themistocles,  YXXJ  4). 
Pericles  and  the  powerful  family  of  the  Alcmaeonidae 
were  only  too  willing  to  have  the  malicious  estimates 
of  Themistocles'  life  and  death  prevail,  and  Herodotus  was 
only  too  willing  to  be  their  spokesman ;  but  events  worked 
in  favor  of  a  rehabilitation  of  the  career  of  Themistocles. 
And  when  the  dominating  personality  of  Pericles  was 
removed  (429),  and  the  war  with  Sparta  intensified  yet 
more  Athenian  hatred  of  her,  and  when  the  successes  won 
against  her  were  seen  to  be  due  in  the  main  to  the  undis- 
puted services  of  the  maligned  Themistocles,  the  change  in 
popular  sentiment  toward  his  memory  became  pronounced. 
The  Old  Athenian  Comedy  of  the  decade  430-420,  so  far 
as  we  can  now  control  its  references  to  him,  was  friendly,  even 
grateful,  and  the  fiction  of  his  treason  slowly  died  out  of 
popular  belief. 

Writing  toward  the  close  of  the  century,  Thucydides 
boldly  controverted  many  estimates  of  his  more  popular 
predecessor,  Herodotus,  and  none  more  emphatically  than  his 
treatment  of  Themistocles.  Against  the  mis  judgment  of 
Themistocles  by  the  leading  minds  and  the  masses  of  the 
Periclean  age  at  Athens,  and  against  the  perpetuation  of 
this  misjudgment  in  the  historical  romance  of  Herodotus, 
Thucydides,  in  one  of  his  main  and  formal  digressions,  which 
is  our  earliest  specimen  of  formal  biography  in  Greek,  utters 
an  earnest,  dignified  protest.  And  it  is  greatly  to  Plutarch's 
credit,  even  though  he  was  probably  prejudiced  against 
Herodotus  from  the  start,  that  he  puts  himself  in  line  with 


36  INTRODUCTION 

this  protest  of  Thucydides.  It  was  not  alone  his  humanity 
and  natural  kindness  of  spirit,  but  his  critical  preference  of 
Thucydides  as  a  historical  authority  superior  to  Herodotus, 
that  led  him  to  give  Herodotean  details  of  the  events  of  the 
Persian  Wars  with  which  Themistocles  was  associated,  but 
in  the  Thucydidean  spirit.  The  malicious  element  in  the 
Herodotean  material  is  carefully  eliminated,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  grand  protest  of  Thucydides.  Themistocles  was 
not  guilty  of  treason,  according  to  Plutarch,  even  though  he 
did  fly  for  refuge  to  the  king  of  Persia.  This  is  the  main 
point,  and  in  the  main  point  Plutarch  sides  with  Thucydides 
against  Herodotus.  We  can  pardon  him  then,  if,  when  he 
comes  to  treat  of  Themistocles'  life  in  Persia,  about  which 
only  a  few  salient  facts  were  known,  he  leaves  the  safe 
reticence  of  Thucydides,  and  admits  into  his  story  the  orna- 
mental, but  purely  fictitious  material  with  which  later  writers 
supplied  him. 

The  three  allusions  to  Themistocles  in  Aristophanes 
(Knights,  1831,  812-819,  884)  are  even  affectionate  in 
their  tone,  and  the  last  two  dwell  on  his  benefactions  to 
Athens ;  the  second  actually  implies  that  his  exile  showed 
ingratitude  on  the  part  of  the  city.  At  the  Lensean  festival 
of  424  B.  c.,  therefore,  an  Athenian  audience  evidently  felt 
tender  toward  Themistocles.  Perhaps  this  growing  tender- 
ness toward  him  on  account  of  the  wrongs  done  him  at 
Spartan  instigation  called  forth  the  magnificent  eulogium 
which  Thucydides  bestowed  upon  him. 

At  any  rate,  in  the  early  part  of  the  next  century  his 
memory  is  entirely  cleared  of  the  stain  of  treachery.  In 
Plato's  Gorgias,  Themistocles  is  ranked  with  Miltiades, 
Cimon,  and  Pericles.  All  were  good  men  of  virtue,  if  virtue 
consist  in  the  satisfaction  of  our  own  and  other  people's 
desires;  and  all  alike  were  bad  statesmen  because  they 
suffered  themselves  to  be  "  thrown  from  their  chariot,"  i.  e. 
ostracized.  In  Themistocles'  case  the  Athenians  added  exile 
to  ostracism  ;  but  there  is  not  the  slightest  hint  of  its  justice. 
And  in  a  still  more  striking  passage  of  the  Meno  (pp.  93, 99), 


SOURCES  OF  PLUTARCH'S    THEMIS  TO  OLE S     37 

Themistocles  is  called  a  good  man  and  a  good  statesman,  —  a 
wise  and  good  man,  although  unable  to  teach  his  virtue  to  his 
own  son,  exactly  as  Aristides,  Pericles  and  Thucydides,  son 
of  Melesias,  were.  Such  language  could  not  have  been  used 
unless  all  belief  in  the  treason  of  Themistocles  had  vanished 
from  popular  belief.  Xenophon  is  like  Plato  in  this  regard. 

In  the  orators  of  the  closing  fifth  and  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, especially  Antiphon,  Andocides,  Isocrates,  ^Eschines 
and  Demosthenes,  whatever  opinions  may  be  held  about  the 
expediency  and  advantage  of  converting  Athens  into  a  mari- 
time power,  —  and  orators  as  well  as  philosophers  sometimes 
questioned  these,  —  there  is  complete  unanimity  in  this,  that 
to  Themistocles  is  always  ascribed,  in  strains  which  become 
rather  conventional,  the  glory  of  Athens'  navy,  and  of  the 
Piraeus ;  and  that  there  is  no  hint  of  his  actual  treason,  though 
there  are  many  allusions  to  his  country's  ingratitude  toward 
him.  But  the  orators  used  the  history  of  the  fifth  century 
merely  as  a  source  for  telling  illustrations  or  contrasts.  They 
did  not  recount  it  at  length,  and  were  inaccurate  in  details. 
There  is  little  indication  in  them  of  any  lines  of  historical 
tradition  which  are  independent  of  Herodotus  and  Thucydides. 
All  the  more  worthy  of  notice,  then,  is  their  elimination 
from  Herodotus  of  his  hostile  treatment  of  Themistocles. 

The  historical  material  of  Herodotus  and  Thucydides  was 
worked  over  into  a  form  which  appealed  to  the  rhetorical 
tastes  of  the  fourth  century  by  Ephorus,  a  native  of  the 
^Eolian  city  of  Cyme.  Ephorus  was  a  pupil  of  the  great 
orator  Isocrates,  and  carried  into  the  narration  of  historical 
events  the  principles  of  formal  rhetoric.  The  form  was  of 
more  importance  than  the  substance,  and  freely  shaped  the 
substance  to  its  needs.  He  wrote  a  universal  history  of 
Greeks  and  Barbarians  from  the  return  of  the  Heracleidse,  or 
the  "  Dorian  Invasion,"  down  to  the  year  340  B.  a,  at  which 
point  death  interrupted  his  task.  His  work  became  a 
Vulgate  of  history,  enjoying  an  immense  popularity.  It  has 
come  down  to  us  only  in  excerpts  and  fragments,  and  is 
principally  known  to  us  through  the  generous  use  made  of 


38  INTRODUCTION 

it  by  the  compiler  Diodorus  Siculus,  who  prepared  a  com- 
pend  of  universal  history  down  to  Caesar's  Gallic  wars,  writ- 
ing under  Augustus.  In  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth 
books  of  this  compend  of  Diodorus,  we  have  the  periods  of 
the  Persian  and  Peloponnesian  wars  treated,  in  the  main 
after  Ephorus,  and  so,  ultimately,  after  Herodotus  and 
Thucydides,  though  not  without  important  variations  on 
the  part  both  of  Ephorus  and  Diodorus.  It  is  plain  that 
Diodorus  excerpts  Ephorus  in  large  sections.  But  it  is  also 
probable  that  he  condenses  at  times,  and  certain  that  he 
adds  some  matter  of  his  own  composition,  especially  for 
purposes  of  juncture.  In  general,  however,  we  are  reason- 
ably confident  that  he  reproduces  Ephorus.  Though  a  dili- 
gent student  and  collector  of  material,  Ephorus  is  not  so 
trustworthy  a  guide  as  Herodotus  even,  much  less  Thucyd- 
ides, since  he  yields  far  more  than  they  do  to  the  tempta- 
tions of  his  rhetoric.  His  style  is  artificial  in  the  extreme, 
diffuse  and  weak,  and  yet  to  his  style  he  clearly  sacrifices 
fidelity  to  fact  and  authority.  He  was  an  extravagant 
admirer  of  Athens  and  Themistocles,  going  as  far  beyond 
the  truth  in  his  praise  of  them  as  their  enemies  did  in  their 
detraction. 

Very  different  from  him  in  method  and  purpose,  though 
like  him  in  his  formal  rhetorical  style,  and  his  love  of  writ- 
ing for  the  sake  of  writing  rather  than  for  the  sake  of  truth, 
was  his  fellow-pupil  under  Isocrates,  Theopompus  of  Chios. 
This  stern  aristocrat  devoted,  like  Thucydides,  the  years 
of  his  exile,  and  his  wealth,  to  securing  the  most  accu- 
rate knowledge  possible  of  the  periods  which  he  chronicled, 
namely :  the  years  411  to  339  B.  c.,  in  continuation  of  the 
history  of  Thucydides ;  and  the  career  of  Philip  of  Macedon, 
from  360  to  336  B.  c.  The  loss  of  these  works,  which  were 
storehouses  of  erudition,  is  one  of  the  severest  that  Greek 
literature  has  sustained.  The  tenth  book  of  the  second 
work,  the  Philippica,  was  devoted,  by  way  of  excursion, 
to  the  Attic  statesmen  of  the  Persian  Wars  and  later. 
Here  Plutarch  evidently  found  much  biographical  material 


SOURCES   OF  PLUTARCH'S    THEMIS TOCLES 


3b 


for  his  ZTiemistocles,  and  apparently  a  spirit  of  hostility  to 
this  hero,  as  was  natural  in  a  writer  of  Theopompus'  politi- 
cal sympathies.  Fragments  of  his  works  show  also  a  ten- 
dency to  correct  the  vainglorious  spirit  of  Athenian  traditions. 
As  a  man  of  the  national  party  he  has  bitter  things  to  say  of 
Demosthenes,  as  well  as  of  Themistocles.  In  both  Theo- 
pompus and  Ephorus  we  may  assume  that  some  authentic 
material  appeared,  —  either  from  the  early  annalists  Charon 
and  Hellanicus,  or  from  private  family  traditions, —  which  is 
not  to  be  found  in  Herodotus  or  Thucydides  on  the  same 
periods ;  but  by  far  the  largest  part  of  such  supplementary 
matter  is  suspicious,  to  say  the  least.  It  is  more  likely  to 
be  a  rhetorical  invention  than  genuine  tradition. 

Plutarch  is  much  indebted  to  a  group  of  antiquarian 
writers  who  composed  the  Atthides,  or  chronological  his- 
tories of  the  customs,  institutions,  and  monuments  of 
Athens.  The  oldest  of  these,  if  Hellanicus  be  not 
included  in  the  group,  whose  Atthis  was  of  a  more 
general  character,  was  Clidemus,  or  Clitodemus.  The 
few  fragments  of  his  work  which  have  reached  us  include 
an  item  of  the  year  377  B.  c.,  and  make  it  probable  that  he 
flourished  during  the  closing  years  of  the  fifth,  and  in 
the  first  half  of  the  fourth  century.  Plutarch  uses  him, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  in  his  Theseus,  Themistocles, 
and  Aristides. 

Phanodemus  is  another  writer  of  the  same  class,  about 
whom  even  less  is  known.  Plutarch  cites  him  once  in  his 
Themistocles,  and  twice  in  his  Cimon. 

Androtion  is  another,  said  by  Suidas  to  have  been  a  pupil 
of  Isocrates.  He  is  one  of  the  authorities  from  whom  Aris- 
totle drew  material  for  his  Constitution  of  Athens,  and  is 
cited  once  by  Plutarch  in  his  Solon.  He  was  active  in 
the  year  346  B.C. 

These  were  all  predecessors  of  the  most  important  writer  of 
the  class,  Philochorus,  who  was  slain  at  Athens  by  Antigonus 
Gonatas  in  261  B.  c.  He  was  a  professional  seer,  and  an  official 
interpreter  of  oracles  and  portents  in  306  B.C.  His  chief 


40  INTRODUCTION 

work,  an  Atthis,  carried  the  chronicles  of  Athens  down  to 
the  year  of  his  death,  and  the  fragments  of  it  testify  to  the 
great  learning  and  wisdom  of  the  author.  Plutarch  cites 
him  by  name  frequently  in  his  Theseus,  once  in  his  Nicias, 
and  probably  uses  him  freely  at  other  times  without  men- 
tioning his  name,  as  in  chapters  x.  and  XL  of  the  Themis- 
toclcs,  where  he  takes  Aristotle's  Constitution  of  Athens  as  he 
found  it  cited  in  Philochorus,  whose  enormous  literary  activ- 
ity came  in  the  generation  following  Aristotle,  and  who  cites 
Aristotle  freely,  as  well  as  previous  Atthides.  It  may  well  be, 
therefore,  that  Plutarch  uses  the  earlier  Atthis-writers  mainly 
as  he  finds  them  cited  in  Philochorus. 

Craterus  the  Macedonian,  half-brother  of  King  Antigonus 
Gonatas,  was  a  diligent  and  careful  compiler  of  original  his- 
torical documents  bearing  on  the  history  of  Athens,  such  as 
the  popular  decrees  and  other  published  inscriptions.  He 
apparently  wrote  a  history  of  the  Athenian  people  based  on 
these  invaluable  documents.  Plutarch  speaks  of  his  collec- 
tions, to  which  he  must  have  had  access,  in  his  Cimon,  xiii., 
and  Aristides,  xxvi.  Spurious  documents  may  have  crept 
into  the  collections  of  Craterus,  but  in  general  his  work 
must  have  been  of  the  greatest  value,  and  late  lexicog- 
raphers and  scholiasts  cite  him  with  respect  and  confi- 
dence, often  in  the  same  class  with  the  Atthis-writers. 

Diodorus  the  Topographer,  or  Periegete,  was  a  contempo- 
rary of  Theophrastus,  toward  the  close  of  the  fourth  century 
B.  c.,  who  wrote  works  on  the  monuments  and  antiquities 
of  Attica.  Plutarch  cites  him  in  his  Themistocles,  YYXJJ., 
Theseus,  XXXVL,  and  Cimon,  xvi 

The  Peripatetic  school  of  philosophers,  headed  by  Aristotle, 
in  the  historical  and  biographical  work  which  they  incident- 
ally cultivated,  seem  to  have  culled  from  all  sorts  of  late 
sources  striking  anecdotes  of  great  historical  personages  like 
Themistocles,  without  much  critical  acumen.  Their  main 
work  was  in  other  fields.  And  yet,  in  distinction  from 
the  Alexandrian  school  of  biography,  which  contented  itself 
with  complete  collection  of  extant  material,  the  Peripatetic 


SOURCES  OF  PLUTARCH'S    THEMISTOGLES    41 

school,  especially  the  later,  sought  to  throw  the  charm  of 
literary  art  around  its  collected  materials. 

In  the  Constitution  of  Athens  by  Aristotle,  recently  so 
marvellously  restored  to  us,  and  fully  cited  in  the  current 
notes  of  this  volume,  the  sources  drawn  upon  are  distinctly 
anti-democratic,  and  represent  the  sentiments  of  the  oligar- 
chical faction  toward  the  close  of  the  Peloponnesian  war. 

Theophrastus,  the  most  famous  pupil,  and  the  successor  of 
Aristotle  (ob.  287  B.C.),  is  cited  twice  in  chapter  xxv.  of 
the  Themistodes  for  biographical  details,  which,  like  those  in 
Aristotle  and  Theopompus,  betray  the  bias  of  the  oligarchi- 
cal partisan.  His  book  "  On  Lives  "  was  a  mine  of  citation  for 
Plutarch  in  his  Lycurgus,  Lysander,  Pericles,  and  other  Lives. 
But  his  principal  works,  like  those  of  his  master,  were  in 
the  field  of  natural  history. 

The  writer  of  this  school  to  whom  Plutarch  is  most 
indebted,  especially  for  piquant  stories  and  tales  of  dreams 
and  wonders,  is  Phanias  of  Eresos,  a  fellow-citizen  and  friend 
of  Theophrastus,  as  well  as  a  disciple  of  Aristotle,  and  his 
most  distinguished  disciple,  after  Theophrastus.  He  too  was 
a  prolific  writer  on  logic,  physics,  literature,  and  history  as  well. 
Plutarch  compliments  his  erudition  in  chapter  xiii.  of  the 
Themistodes,  and  borrows  gladly  and  freely  from  his  sensa- 
tional store,  even  when  he  clearly  distrusts  the  truth  of  what 
he  takes.  Among  the  historical  works  attributed  to  Phanias 
were  a  chronological  history  of  Greece,  arranged  by  annual 
officers  of  Eresos ;  a  history  of  Sicilian  tyrants ;  and  a  work 
on  the  assassination  of  tyrants.  What  the  work  was  which 
Plutarch  uses  so  freely  in  the  Themistodes,  is  not  known. 
All  the  Peripatetics  seem  to  have  been  collectors  rather  than 
sifters  of  historical  material,  and  Phanias  was  apparently  a 
historical  romancer,  in  a  daring  and  fascinating  vein. 

Ariston  of  Ceos,  cited  both  in  the  Themistodes  and  Aris- 
tides  for  a  story  of  youthful  rivalry  in  love,  is  said  to  have 
become  head  of  the  Peripatetic  school  about  230  B.  c.  His 
works  are  all  lost,  and  the  loss  is  small.  Among  his  con- 
temporaries, and  in  Cicero's  eyes,  he  lacked  dignity  and 


42  INTRODUCTION 

weight.  He  cultivated  seriously  what  Aristotle  and  Theo- 
phrastus  and  even  Phanias  did  by  way  of  literary  recreation. 
He  wrote  light  character-sketches,  after  the  manner  of  those 
which  have  come  down  to  us  from  Theophrastus,  and  a  col- 
lection of  such  love-stories  as  that  which  Plutarch  cites  from 


Here  also  may  be  classed  the  Heracleides  cited  by  Plutarch 
in  chapter  xxvil  1,  as  having  Themistocles  come  to  Xerxes 
rather  than  to  Artaxerxes.  Heracleides  Ponticus  is  probably 
meant,  a  pupil  of  both  Plato  and  Aristotle,  a  voluminous 
writer  on  all  possible  subjects,  including  historical  None 
of  his  works  have  come  down  to  us,  and  Plutarch  probably 
merely  repeats  his  name  as  he  found  it  cited,  by  some  writer 
or  commentator,  on  the  Xerxes  side  of  this  curiously  mooted 
point. 

Idomeneus  of  Lampsacus  is  an  author  to  whom  Plutarch 
is  under  great  obligations  in  Ms  Aristides,  and  whose  pecu- 
liar material  he  must  have  known  indirectly  at  least,  if  not 
directly,  in  his  TJiemistocles.  Idomeneus  was  a  pupil  and 
friend  of  Epicurus  (ob.  270),  but  a  degenerate  disciple  of 
his  great  master.  Apparently  to  palliate  the  wantonness  of 
his  own  life,  he  collected  alleged  instances  of  wantonness  in 
the  great  men  of  the  past.  The  higher  the  eminence  of  the 
man,  the  more  emphatic  the  lesson  of  his  lapses  and  falls. 
Hence  the  union  of  adulation  and  slander  in  the  traces  of 
the  biographical  work  of  Idomeneus.  He  wrote  a  bio- 
graphical work  on  "The  Socratics,"  and  another  on  "The 
Demagogues."  In  the  latter,  of  course,  Themistocles  and 
Aristides  would  be  treated.  Plutarch  speaks  depreciatingly 
of  him  in  Pericles,  x.,  and  Demosthenes,  xxiii.  ;  cites  him 
thrice  in  the  Aristides,  and  undoubtedly  takes  large  material 
from  him  in  that  biography  without  mentioning  him  by  name. 
Idomeneus  is  to  Plutarch  in  the  Aristides,  what  Phanias  is 
in  the  Themistocles,  —  a  welcome  source  for  much  sensa- 
tional material  which  his  better  judgment  tells  him  is 
of  dubious  value. 

Duris,  a  pupil  of  Theophrastus,  historian  and  tyrant  of 


SOURCES  OF  PLUTARCH'S    THEMISTOGLES     43 

Samos,  lived  from  about  350  to  about  280  B.C.,  and  wrote  a 
history  of  Greece  from  370  to  281  B.  c.  Only  fragments  of  his 
works  have  reached  us,  and  it  is  hard  to  estimate  them. 
Plutarch  disparages  his  style  and  doubts  his  veracity,  and 
yet,  as  in  the  case  of  Phanias  and  Idomeneus,  finds  wel- 
come material  in  his  writings.  He  does  not  cite  him  for 
the  Themistocles,  though  he  may  use  his  materials,  directly 
or  indirectly,  in  chapter  ii. ;  he  cites  him  by  name  in  Peri- 
cles, xxvii.,  a  biography  written  before  the  Aristides,  and 
in  Alcibiades,  xxxii. 

There  remain  seven,  out  of  the  twenty-eight  authors  cited 
by  name  in  the  Themistocles,  but  there  is  no  need  here  of  any- 
thing more  than  an  alphabetical  list  of  them,  with  just  enough 
biographical  notice  to  differentiate  them,  since  Plutarch  uses 
them  for  isolated  details  only,  and  that  too,  in  some  cases, 
at  second  hand,  as  he  finds  them  cited  in  other  authorities 
on  whom  he  is  depending  more.  The  list  is  as  follows :  — 

Acestodorus,  cited  at  xiii.  1.  Nothing  further  is  positively 
known  about  him.  It  may  be  the  Acestodorus  of  Megalop- 
olis, of  unknown  date,  who  is  mentioned  by  Stephanus  of 
Byzantium  between  Ainesias,  a  pupil  of  Theophrastus,  and 
Polybius,  as  author  of  a  work  "  On  Cities." 

Charon  of  Lampsacus,  cited  at  xxvii.  1.  A  "  logographer," 
predecessor  of  Herodotus,  writing  Persica,  after  the  manner 
of  annals.  Plutarch  cites  him  only  here. 

Clitarchus,  cited  at  xxvii.  1.  A  son  of  Dinon,  author  of 
a  history  of  Alexander  which  was  written  while  Alexander's 
career  was  fresh  in  men's  minds,  and  which  incorporated  the 
most  romantic  and  fanciful  conceptions  of  that  career  into 
the  historical  form  which  became  most  popular,  and  even 
canonical.  Plutarch  uses  him,  of  course,  in  his  Alexander. 

Dinon  of  Colophon,  cited  at  xxvii.  1.  The  father  of 
Clitarchus,  author  of  a  standard  history  of  Persia,  which 
was  written  during  the  campaigns  of  Alexander,  and  brought 
the  history  of  the  empire  down  to  340  B.  c.  He  is  used  by 
Plutarch  in  the  Artaxerxes. 

Eratosthenes  of   Gyrene,  cited  at  xxviL  3.     Librarian  at 


44  INTRODUCTION 

Alexandria  under  Ptolemy  Euergetes  and  his  two  successors, 
most  distinguished  as  geographer  and  chronologist,  275-194 
B.  c.  He  wrote  also  on  philosophy  and  ethics,  and  the  work 
here  cited  by  Plutarch  was  of  this  nature. 

Neanthes  of  Cyzicus,  cited  in  i.  2,  and  xxix.  4.  A  rhetori- 
cian of  the  school  of  Isocrates,  who  flourished  about  240  B.  c., 
and  wrote  a  book  on  "  Illustrious  Men,"  a  History  of  Greece, 
and  a  History  of  Attains  of  Pergamum  (241-197).  The 
third  and  fourth  books  of  his  Greek  History  treated  of  the 
Persian  Wars. 

Phylarchus,  cited  in  xxxiL  2  with  such  depreciation  of 
his  style  and  veracity,  was  an  Athenian  historian  of  the 
period  272-220,  a  contemporary  of  Aratus  (ob.  213  B.C.), 
the  main  authority  for  Plutarch  in  his  Agis  and  Cleomenes, 
and  Pyrrhus.  His  work  was  after  the  order  of  Duris  of 
Samos,  and  Phanias,  whom  Plutarch  finds  so  serviceable  in 
spite  of  their  failings. 

(c)   ANALYSIS  OF  THE  THEMISTOCLES. 

The  first  natural  division,  chapters  L-v.,  covers  the  first 
period  of  the  hero's  life,  —  his  birth,  education,  and  early 
political  career,  down  to  the  ostracism  of  Aristides  (483). 
Themistocles  was  of  obscure  birth,  plain  education,  and 
obliged  to  struggle  for  social  and  political  recognition.  He 
was  ambitious,  clever,  impetuous,  and  in  his  earlier  years 
dissipated.  Fired  by  the  fame  of  Miltiades,  he  maps  out 
a  naval  policy  for  Athens  which  shall  enable  her  to  cope 
with  Persia  on  the  sea.  In  carrying  out  this  policy,  he  in- 
gratiates himself  with  the  common  people,  and  antagonizes 
successfully  both  Miltiades  and  Aristides,  the  leaders  of  the 
aristocracy.  Aristides  is  at  last  ostracized. 

Of  the  twelve  anecdotes  which  embellish  this  division, 
many  are  loosely  used.  They  sometimes  illustrate  later 
periods  in  the  life  of  Themistocles  than  the  one  under  con- 
sideration, and  are  often  inventions  of  a  time  after  the 
victory  of  Salamis.  Most  of  the  narrative  material  also  is 
inferential  in  its  nature.  Given  a  few  fundamental  facts  on 


ANALYSIS    OF  THE    THEMIS TOCLES          45 

good  authority,  such  as  the  lowly  birth  of  Themistocles, 
his  far-seeing  naval  policy,  and  his  political  triumph  over 
Aristides,  all  of  which  are  clearly  brought  out  in  Herodotus 
and  Thucydides,  and  most  of  the  rest  of  the  material  is  such 
as  might  naturally  be  invented  on  the  basis  of  these  facts, 
to  give  desired  but  lacking  biographical  detail.  Most  of  it 
comes,  in  fact,  so  far  as  we  can  trace  it  at  all,  from  writers 
later  even  than  the  century  in  which  Themistocles  lived. 
Plutarch  seems  to  write  currente  calamo,  from  well-stocked 
memory  and  copious  notes.  The  authorities  actually  men- 
tioned in  this  division  are  Phanias,  Neanthes,  Simonides, 
Stesimbrotus  (twice),  Ariston,  and  Plato;  but  there  are 
several  vague  plural  phrases  of  reference,  such  as  "some," 
"others,"  "the  story-makers;"  and  some  vague  general 
formula  like  "it  is  said,"  "it  is  thought,"  "it  is  agreed," 
the  significance  of  which  can  never  be  satisfactorily  deter- 
mined. It  certainly  cannot  be  proved,  however,  that  Plutarch 
is  reproducing  some  predecessor's  blend  of  biographical 
material  The  combination  is  his  own. 

The  second  division,  chapters  vi.-xviii.,  covers  the  second 
period  in  the  life  of  Themistocles,  from  the  ostracism  of 
Aristides  (483)  through  the  events  immediately  following 
upon  the  victory  at  Salamis  (480).  Familiarity  with  the 
greater  events  of  the  period  is  assumed  in  the  reader.  The 
details  are,  in  the  main,  Herodotean,  but  the  spirit  is 
Thucydidean,  and  even  Ephorean,  i.  e.  not  simply  favorable, 
but  adulatory.  Having  achieved  the  naval  supremacy  of 
Athens  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  Miltiades  and  Aristides, 
who  thought  the  victory  of  heavy-armed  troops  at  Marathon 
glory  and  prophecy  enough,  Themistocles  inspired  the 
Athenians  to  defy  the  Persian  King ;  united  all  the  southern 
Greeks  by  wisely  yielding,  even  in  naval  matters,  to  the 
presumptuous  claims  of  Sparta ;  participated  in  the  abortive 
attempt  to  block  the  Persian  advance  at  the  Vale  of  Tempe ; 
persuaded  reluctant  allies  to  unite  in  the  three  days'  naval 
struggle  off  Artemisium;  sowed  the  seeds  of  disintegration 
in  the  King's  fleet  during  the  slow  retreat  down  the  coast 


46  INTRODUCTION 

before  the  victorious  enemy ;  was  foremost  in  persuading  the 
Athenians  to  abandon  their  city  and  make  their  fleet  their 
home ;  overcame,  at  last,  by  a  desperate  stratagem,  the  pur- 
pose of  the  allies  to  retire  still  farther  down  the  coast,  and 
brought  on  a  naval  engagement  in  such  narrow  quarters  that 
the  Greeks,  even  though  disheartened  and  irresolute,  con- 
tended on  favorable  terms  with  the  superior  numbers  of 
their  enemy's  ships,  and  inflicted  on  him  and  his  invasion  a 
checking  blow,  —  "  that  fair  and  notorious  victory,"  as  Simon- 
ides  sang,  "  than  which  no  more  brilliant  exploit  was  ever 
performed  upon  the  sea." 

I  deem  it  a  literary  impossibility  that  Plutarch  should 
have  written  this  division  without  consulting  Herodotus, 
the  famous  ultimate  authority  for  the  events.  But  he 
certainly  treats  Herodotus  with  the  greatest  freedom.  He 
cites  him  twice  by  name  for  startling  details  merely,  and 
once  incorrectly  at  that ;  changes  the  order  of  his  events  and 
the  names  of  his  speakers ;  extracts  all  the  venom  from  his 
stories  about  Themistocles ;  embellishes  with  citations  from 
^Eschylus,  Pindar,  Simonides,  —  most  welcome  authentic  tes- 
timony,— as  well  as  from  the  arch  romancer  Phanias,  and  the 
statelier  Aristotle,  not  to  mention  the  antiquarians  Clidemus 
and  Phanodemus,  and  the  unknown  Acestodorus.  Again,  as 
in  the  first  division,  the  vague  general  phrases  of  reference, 
—  as  to  a  "  cloud  of  witnesses,"  —  abound  (there  are  some 
nine  in  all) ;  again  the  division  is  brought  to  a  close  by  a 
chapter  containing  a  farrago  of  stories,  good,  bad,  and  indif- 
ferent, perhaps  a  page  of  the  commonplace-book  copied  entire; 
and  again  the  combination,  which  is,  after  all,  highly  artistic, 
must  be  credited  to  Plutarch  himself,  and  not  to  any  inter- 
mediate compiler  or  biographer,  except  in  the  way  of 
suggestion. 

The  best  tradition,  including  the  testimony  of  Aristophanes 
and  the  Old  Comedy,  makes  the  great  triumph  of  Themisto- 
cles due,  not  to  valor,  but  to  wisdom  and  adroitness.  It 
was  the  far-sighted  diplomat  whom,  for  a  brief  space,  Pelo- 
ponnesus and  Attica  united  to  honor.  And  it  is  the  quality 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE    THEMISTOCLES          47 

of  diplomatic  adroitness  which  the  anecdotical  element  of 
this  second  division  most  illustrates.  The  bon-mots  are  prob- 
ably rhetorical  inventions  of  the  century  after  Themistocles. 
They  might  just  as  well  be  ascribed  to  any  one  who  had 
achieved  eminence  and  power  from  lowly  origins. 

The  third  division,  chapters  xix.-xxii.,  covers  the  career  of 
Themistocles  from  his  marvellous  triumph  to  his  ostracism, 
a  period  of  about  seven  years.  For  this  period  there  is  little 
positive  evidence  of  any  sort.  Herodotus  has  almost  none, 
Thucydides  but  little.  Plutarch's  outline  is  exceedingly 
summary,  and  he  fails  almost  entirely,  as  usual,  to  give  any 
clear  idea  of  the  political  combination  in  consequence  of  which 
Themistocles  fell  so  low  from  an  eminence  so  high.  He 
tells  us  of  the  diplomatic  trick  by  which  Themistocles  deceived 
Sparta  and  secured  the  rebuilding  of  the  walls  of  Athens 
(Thucydides) ;  of  the  building  of  the  walls  of  the  Piraeus, 
and  the  emphasis  put  by  Themistocles  on  his  naval  policy  in 
opposition  to  Aristides  and  the  nobles  (Thucydides) ;  he  hints 
at  the  growth  of  Spartan  hatred  for  Themistocles  and  favor 
for  his  young  rival  Cimon;  at  the  onslaught  of  angry 
enemies,  like  Timocreon  of  Ehodes;  at  a  growing  unpopu- 
larity of  Themistocles  which  he  increases  by  wearisome 
references  to  his  own  services ;  but  at  last  the  political  crash 
comes  in  rather  abruptly  and  Themistocles  is  ostracized,  just 
about  ten  years  after  the  ostracism  of  his  rival  Aristides. 
The  current  notes  will  supply  fuller  explanation  than 
Plutarch  does  of  so  speedy  and  so  utter  a  reversal  of 
fortune. 

The  authentic  material  of  this  division  is  based  almost 
entirely  on  Thucydides,  though  he  is  not  mentioned  by 
name,  and  it  is  reinforced  by  ornamental  citations  or  rem- 
iniscences from  Aristophanes  and  Plato;  by  much  curious 
material  from  some  of  the  antiquarian  writers,  —  Clidemus, 
perhaps,  or  Philochorus;  and  by  malicious  stories  of  late 
invention,  one  or  two  possibly  from  Theopompus,  who  is 
cited  by  name  for  one.  Herodotus  is  used  by  name  for 
an  incident  that  does  not  belong  in  this  period  at  all 


48  INTRODUCTION 

Contemporary  evidence  of  the  highest  value  is  given  in 
the  citations  from  Timocreon,  but  side  by  side  with  worth- 
less stories  of  late  manufacture.  The  phrases  of  vague 
plural  or  general  reference  are  fewer  in  number,  and  the 
blend,  or  combination  is  not  so  successful  as  in  the  other 
divisions.  The  modern  historian  also  finds  little  authentic 
material  to  serve  him  in  the  reconstruction  of  this  particular 
period  of  the  political  activity  of  Athens. 

The  fourth  division,  chapters  xxiii.-xxxii.,  covers  the 
last  period  of  Themistocles'  career,  —  his  exile  for  treason, 
his  Persian  adventures  and  successes,  his  death  and  burial. 
The  incidents  occurring  in  Hellas  are,  in  the  main,  well 
authenticated  history,  being  largely  a  transcription  of  Thu- 
cydides  (L  135-7).  The  adventures  in  Persia  are  almost 
wholly  of  romantic  invention.  Plutarch  gives  a  residence  in 
Argos  with  political  moves  against  Sparta ;  Spartan  charges 
that  the  correspondence  of  their  own  traitor,  Pausanias,  impli- 
cated Themistocles  also  ;  a  summons  to  appear  before  a  Hel- 
lenic tribunal  and  answer  to  a  charge  of  treason ;  the  flight  to 
Persia  by  way  of  Corcyra,  Epirus,  and  Macedonia,  —  mostly 
after  Thucydides.  But  here  he  admits  freely  into  his  narra- 
tive the  ornamental  but  purely  fictitious  anecdotes  with  which 
late  authorities  supplied  him.  From  the  time  when  the 
great  figure  of  Themistocles  vanished  forever  from  Hellas, 
Hellenic  fancy  revelled  in  picturing  to  itself  the  adventures 
through  which  this  unrivalled  diplomat  forged  his  way  from 
the  position  of  prime  foe  to  that  of  prime  friend  of  the  Great 
King.  That  he  did  so  somehow,  his  princely  residence  at 
Magnesia,  with  this  and  other  Greek  cities  tributary  to  his 
wants,  indisputably  showed.  But  how  did  he  do  so?  and 
what  price  did  he  pay  for  the  Great  King's  favor?  Such 
questions  Hellenic  fancy  asked,  and,  in  the  absence  of  other 
answers,  answered  them  for  itself.  Through  intrigue  and 
mortal  peril  Themistocles  gained  access  to  the  royal  pres- 
ence, astonished  the  Great  King  by  his  bold  readiness  of 
resource,  adopted  Persian  language  and  manners  so  as  to 
out-Persian  the  Persian  courtiers,  lived  like  a  royal  satrap  on 


ARISTIDES  IN  THE  PERSIAN  WARS  49 

the  confines  of  the  empire  closest  to  Hellas,  under  such  obli- 
gations to  do  anti-Hellenic  service  to  the  King  that  at  last 
he  took  his  own  life  rather  than  try  to  fulfil  them.  He  had 
splendid  burial  at  Magnesia,  though  in  later  times  his  de- 
scendants dared  to  claim  a  secret  burial  of  his  remains  in 
Attic  soil,  at  his  own  request,  and  tradition  fixed  his  Attic 
tomb  near  the  entrance  to  the  Piraeus,  his  greatest  creation. 

Thucydides'  brief  and  cautious  testimony  is  fully  utilized 
by  Plutarch,  but  is  most  generously  expanded  and  supple- 
mented, from  Ephorus  and  Phanias  especially.  All  three 
authors  are  cited  by  name,  as  well  as  more  than  a  dozen  others. 
No  better  example  could  be  given  of  the  wide  extent  of 
Plutarch's  reading,  even  though  it  be  granted  that  a  con- 
siderable group  of  these  authors  dre  cited  at  second  hand. 
The  result  is  a  brilliant  literary  mosaic,  in  which  fact  and 
fancy  are  inextricably  united  to  form  the  ethical  pattern. 
Stesimbrotus,  Charon,  and  Andocides  supply  items  from  the 
fifth  century's  traditions ;  Theopompus  and  Theophrastus 
are  drawn  upon  for  rhetorical  and  philosophical  inventions  of 
the  fourth  century;  Neanthes  and  Phylarchus  are  brilliant 
representatives  of  the  third  century's  historiography,  and 
there  is  more  than  the  usual  reference  to  vague  aggregates 
of  writers.  Most  interesting  of  all,  a  Themistocles  of  the 
century  after  Christ,  lineal  descendant  of  the  hero  of 
Salamis,  ancj  inheritor  of  the  family  traditions  and  proper- 
ties, supplies  his  intimate  friend  and  fellow  student,  the 
writer  of  the  Themistocles,  with  minute  details  from  his 
family  archives. 

III.   AEISTIDES  AND   THE  TKADITION   OF  HIS 
HISTORY  IN  PLUTARCH'S  LIFE. 

(a)  AKISTIDES  IN  THE  PEESIAN  WARS. 

Plutarch  assumes,  in  his  Aristides,  the  reader's  familiarity 
with  the  same  general  outline  of  events  as  in  the  Themis- 
tocles. It  need  not  therefore  be  repeated  here.  There  is 
this  striking  difference,  however,  that  in  the  Aristides  the 

4 


50  INTRODUCTION 

political  activity  of  the  two  rivals  is  pushed  back  into  the 
period  before  Marathon.  There  is  not  the  slightest  evidence 
for  this  except  that  which  is  drawn  from  late  authorities,  as 
the  current  notes  will  fully  show  (see  the  note  on  the 
TJiemistoclcs,  iii.  3).  Authentic  evidence  from  contemporary 
or  proximate  sources  knows  nothing  of  either  Aristides  or 
Themistocles  until  after  Marathon,  nor  does  Aristotle's  Con- 
stitution of  Athens,  among  later  sources.  Still  later  tradition, 
however,  insisted  that  the  two  heroes  of  Salamis  should  be 
heroes  of  Marathon  also,  and  generously  invented  details  of 
their  conduct  on  that  field  which  illustrated  the  noble 
rivalry  between  them  and  the  two  types  of  character  long 
since  firmly  fixed  in  men's  remembrance  of  them.  More- 
over, since  Aristides  was 'felt  to  have  been  the  elder  of  the 
two,  —  and  probably  was,  although  it  cannot  be  positively 
proven,  —  a  still  earlier  political  activity  was  assigned  to 
him  as  intimate  friend  of  the  reformer  Cleisthenes  (508  B.C.). 
There  is  nothing  chronologically  improbable  in  this ;  there  is 
simply  no  good  evidence  for  it.  But  when  he  wrote  his 
Aristides,  Plutarch  clearly  surrendered  himself  to  the  influ- 
ence of  late  and  largely  romantic  authorities  much  more 
than  he  had  done  in  the  Themistocles. 

This  is  not  strange.  Contemporary  and  proximate  sources, 
and  particularly  Herodotus  and  Thucydides,  have  almost  no 
details  concerning  Aristides.  His  was  clearly  a  co-operative 
rather  than  an  initiating  personality.  Two  episodes  in 
Herodotus,  —  the  magnanimous  offer  of  his  services  in  aid 
of  his  rival  at  Salamis  (viiL  79-82),  and  his  slaughter  of 
the  Persians  on  the  islet  of  Psyttaleia  toward  the  close  of 
the  engagement,  —  exhaust  the  list;  and  in  Thucydides  there 
are  merely  two  passing  allusions  to  the  man :  once  (L  91,  3) 
as  colleague  of  Themistocles  in  the  embassy  to  Sparta  which 
was  part  of  the  great  stratagem  for  securing  the  rebuilding 
of  the  walls  of  Athens ;  and  once  (v.  18,  5)  as  the  one  "  in 
whose  time  "  the  contributions  of  the  cities  to  the  Delian 
League  were  established.  Aristides  may  have  been  present 
at  Marathon,  probably  was,  we  may  say,  from  the  evidence 


ARISTIDES   IN  THE  PERSIAN  WARS  51 

at  our  command ;  it  is  possible  that  Themistocles  was  present, 
but  neither  raised  himself  above  the  thousands  of  other  Athe- 
nians who  contributed  namelessly  to  the  victory  of  Miltiades. 
The  naval  policy  of  Themistocles,  ostensibly  directed  against 
the  ./Eginetans,  but  far-sightedly  against  the  Persians,  made 
the  victory  of  Salamis  possible.  It  was  so  opposed  by 
Aristides  that  he  was  removed  by  ostracism,  and  he  took 
up  his  residence  while  in  exile,  as  we  may  safely  gather 
from  the  first  episode  in  Herodotus  wherein  he  appears,  with 
the  bitterest  Hellenic  enemies  of  Athens,  the  ^Eginetans. 
His  magnanimity  in  offering  his  services  in  the  battle  of 
Salamis  was  far  surpassed  by  that  of  Themistocles  in  ac- 
cepting them.  And  even  Herodotus,  the  malignant  tra- 
ducer  of  Themistocles,  and  the  extravagant  admirer  of 
Aristides,  wherein  he  but  mirrors  Athenian  sentiment  during 
the  culmination  of  the  Periclean  epoch  (440-430),  can  give 
Aristides  but  faint  glory  in  the  great  achievement.  The 
name  of  Aristides  never  became  synonymous  with  the  vic- 
tory of  Salamis,  as  that  of  Themistocles  did. 

Nor  is  it  synonymous  with  the  victory  of  Plataea  in  the 
year  following  Salamis,  although  here  Themistocles  played 
no  part  at  all.  In  his  Themistocles,  Plutarch  has  not  a  word 
to  say  of  the  victories  over  the  Persians  which  immediately 
followed  Salamis,  —  the  victories  of  Platsea  and  Mycale. 
But  his  account  of  one  of  them,  Platsea,  occupies  almost 
half  of  his  Aristides.  Late  tradition  tried  to  make  the  name 
of  Aristides  synonymous  with  Platsea.  It  did  this  by  con- 
centrating on  Aristides  the  actions  attributed  by  the  primary 
authority,  Herodotus,  to  the  Athenians  in  general,  and  by 
inventing  fresh  personal  details. 

With  the  departure  of  Xerxes  and  his  fleet,  leaving  a 
picked  for.ce  of  infantry  behind  in  Thessaly  and  Bceotia,  the 
problem  confronting  the  southern  Greeks  changed  so  radi- 
cally that  Themistocles  with  his  naval  policy  and  leadership 
were  suddenly  useless,  or  at  least  unnecessary.  Land  forces, 
not  a  fleet,  must  oppose  Mardonius.  By  the  following  spring 
(479),  Sparta  and  heavy-armed  infantry,  rather  than  Athens 


52  INTRODUCTION 

and  triremes,  were  in  highest  demand.  Not  a  word  is  heard 
of  Themistocles  during  the  great  struggle  which  annihilated 
the  Persian  armies  left  behind  in  Greece,  and  swept  the 
^Egean  Sea  clear  of  the  Persian  fleets.  To  Sparta  and  Pau- 
sanias  belongs  by  common  consent  the  glory  of  Plataea. 
Even  Herodotus  here  rises  high  above  the  seductions  of 
partisan  Athenian  misrepresentation,  forty  or  fifty  years 
after  the  events,  and  pronounces  judgment  in  clear  and 
decisive  tones :  "  Then  did  Pausanias,  the  son  of  Cleombrotus, 
and  grandson  of  Anaxandridas,  win  a  victory  exceeding  in 
glory  all  those  to  which  our  knowledge  extends  "  (ix.  64). 
Athenian  tradition  had  warped  the  facts  this  way  and  that, 
in  order  to  magnify  the  really  subordinate  part  taken  by  the 
Athenian  contingent  at  Plataea,  and  to  minify  the  parts  taken 
by  states  which  had  since  the  events  become  intensely  hate- 
ful to  Athens,  and  even  to  cast  aspersions  on  Spartan 
courage ;  but  it  dared  not  detract  from  the  solitary  pre-emin- 
ence in  glory  due  to  Pausanias  for  the  final  victory.  So 
Thucydides  has  the  Plataeans  speak  of  the  victory  won  in 
their  territory  as  that  of  Pausanias  pre-eminently  and  almost 
alone.  At  least,  no  other  commander's  name  is  associated 
with  the  victory  (ii.  71,  2).  Salamis  and  Themistocles 
had  been,  within  one  short  year,  obscured  by  Plataea  and 
Pausanias.  There  had  been  no  call  during  that  year  for 
the  peculiar  services  which  Themistocles  could  render. 
The  Athenian  fleet  was  foremost,  it  is  true,  in  the  vic- 
tory at  Mycale,  but  Themistocles  was  not  there;  a  politi- 
cal rival  of  his  was  in  command  of  the  Athenian  forces  at 
Mycale  as  well  as  at  Plataea.  Too  much  honor  for  Salamis 
had  been  heaped  upon  a  man  of  lowly  origin  and  slender 
means. 

But  there  came  a  call  at  once.  Again  the  cunning  diplo- 
mat rather  than  the  bluff  and  simple  warrior  was  needed. 
When  the  Athenians,  after  fighting  the  Persians  victoriously 
on  sea  and  land  for  three  years,  returned  to  the  site  of  their 
city,  which  had  been  twice  laid  waste  by  the  enemy,  they 
set  themselves  at  once  to  the  task  of  rebuilding  and  fortify- 


ARISTIDES   IN  THE  PERSIAN  WARS  53 

ing  it.  Their  greatest  rival,  Sparta,  whose  only  walls  were 
impenetrable  mountains  and  well-drilled  soldiers,  and  who 
had  no  natural  connection  with  the  sea,  protested.  "  They 
would  rather  themselves  have  seen  neither  the  Athenians 
nor  any  one  else  protected  by  a  wall ;  but  their  main  motive 
was  the  importunity  of  their  allies,  who  dreaded  not  only 
the  Athenian  navy,  which  had  until  lately  been  quite  small, 
but  also  the  spirit  which  had  animated  them  in  the  Persian 
War.  So  the  Lacedaemonians  requested  them  not  to  restore 
their  walls,  but  on  the  contrary  to  join  with  them  in  razing 
the  fortifications  of  other  towns  outside  the  Peloponnesus 
which  had  been  standing"  (^Thucydides,  L  90,  1,  2).  If  the 
Persians  came  again,  the  Lacedaemonians  argued,  the  Pelo- 
ponnesus would  be  a  sufficient  retreat  for  all  Hellas,  and 
the  enemy  would  have  no  such  strong  place  for  his  head- 
quarters as  he  had  recently  found  in  Thebes.  In  this  hour  of 
diplomatic  need,  Themistocles  comes  again  to  the  front.  The 
Lacedaemonians  must  be  outwitted,  and  Themistocles  must 
outwit  them.  The  ruse  by  which  he  does  it  is  told  with 
unusual  detail  by  Thucydides,  and  in  his  best  narrative 
manner.  And  as  the  gods,  according  to  JEschylus,  had 
smiled  upon  the  great  ruse  of  Themistocles  at  Salamis,  and 
Aristides  had  approved  it  and  co-operated  in  it,  so  it  was 
now.  Aristides  helped  his  rival  in  this  his  crowning  strat- 
agem, playing  again  a  very  subordinate  r6le.  Themistocles 
deliberately  offered  up  in  sacrifice  to  his  country's  needs  a 
popularity  in  Sparta  such  as  no  non-Spartan  had  ever  en- 
joyed. "The  friendship  of  the  Lacedaemonian  magistrates 
for  Themistocles,"  says  Thucydides, "  induced  them  to  believe 
him"  (L  91,  1).  But  with  the  success  of  the  ruse  and  the 
humiliating  defeat  of  Sparta's  representative  diplomacy,  the 
popularity  of  Themistocles  in  Sparta  was  succeeded  by  a 
relentless  hate  which  pursued  him  steadily  until  it  succeeded 
in  banishing  him  from  Athens,  and  at  last  in  exiling  him 
from  Hellas  under  charge  of  treason.  The  first  step  in  this 
policy  of  hatred  toward  Themistocles  was  to  throw  the 
whole  weight  of  Spartan  influence  with  the  strong  political 


54  INTRODUCTION 

party  at  Athens  opposed  to  him.  This  was  not  an  aristo- 
cratic as  opposed  to  a  democratic  party,  as  Plutarch  repre- 
sents it,  for  Athens  was  irrevocably  democratic ;  but  rather 
a  democratic  party  which  insisted  on  aristocratic  leadership, 
as  opposed  to  a  democratic  party  under  plebeian  leadership  ; 
a  party  under  the  lead  of  Aristides  and  Cimon,  representa- 
tives of  two  of  the  most  powerful  aristocratic  families  at 
Athens,  opposed  to  a  party  under  the  lead  of  a  novus  homo, 
with  no  distinguished  ancestors  and  no  fortune,  as  Herodotus 
introduces  him  to  us  (vii.  143,  1). 

No  reversal  of  national  policy  ensued  when  the  party  of 
Aristides,  Cimon  and  Sparta  secured  a  preponderance  of 
Athenian  democratic  votes.  They  simply  appropriated  the 
fruits  of  a  policy  which  Themistocles  had  inaugurated 
and  carried  to  triumphant  success,  while  they  supplanted 
the  author  of  the  policy.  And  the  passage  of  the  naval 
hegemony  from  Sparta  to  Athens  while  Aristides  and 
Cimon  were  in  command  of  the  Athenian  fleet,  during 
the  years  478-476  B.C.,  was  not  due  wholly  to  the  at- 
tractive characters  of  Aristides  and  Cimon,  as  contrasted 
with  that  of  Pausanias,  as  Thucydides  is  careful  to 
point  out  (L  95  fin.),  but  to  the  Spartan  friendliness  to- 
ward Athens  under  other  leadership  than  that  of  the  hated 
Themistocles. 

In  describing  this  transfer  of  the  naval  hegemony,  Thu- 
cydides speaks  only  of  "  Athenians  "  in  general,  and  knows 
nothing,  apparently,  of  any  predominating  personal  influence, 
either  on  the  part  of  Aristides  or  Cimon.  So  in  his  account 
of  the  battles  of  Plataea,  Herodotus  deals  only  with  the 
"  Athenians "  in  general,  though  he  notes  the  fact  that 
Aristides  is  their  commander-in-chief.  But  the  rhetorical 
historians  of  the  next  century,  and  biographers  like  Ido- 
meneus  of  Lampsacus  who  follow  them,  are  not  content 
to  deal  with  such  general  terms.  Actions  determined  by 
the  deliberative  agreement  of  a  college  of  generals,  in  the 
absence  of  any  easily  predominating  personality  like  those 
of  Miltiades  or  Themistocles,  must  be  referred  to  the  deci- 


ARISTIDES  IN  THE  PERSIAN  WARS  55 

sion  of  one  man,  for  the  greater  effect  of  the  story.  And  so 
we  have  in  the  later  versions  of  the  history  of  Platsea  and 
the  transfer  of  the  naval  hegemony,  ascription  of  all  Athenian 
action  to  Aristides,  and  to  Aristides  or  Cimon.  For  the  flexi- 
bility of  this  later  version  of  history  is  seen  in  the  fact  that 
in  his  Aristides,  Plutarch  lays  the  attraction  of  the  allies 
from  Sparta  to  Athens  to  the  dominant  personal  influence  of 
Aristides;  but  in  his  Cimon,  to  that  of  Cimon.  As  a 
biographer,  Plutarch  naturally  falls  in  with  this  tendency 
of  later  historical  tradition,  and  even  improves  upon  it. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  best  historical  evidence  to  show 
that  Aristides  rose  far  above  the  Athenian  average  of  ability 
or  probity.  He  certainly  had  no  genius  with  which  to  dazzle 
friends  and  foes  alike,  as  Themistocles  had.  With  all  the 
will  in  the  world  to  do  so,  Herodotus  finds  no  justification 
in  the  popular  tradition  of  his  day  at  Athens  for  making 
Aristides  play  any  very  distinguished  part  at  Platsea,  nor 
did  ^Eschylus  in  his  Persians  (472  B.  c.),  the  political 
purpose  of  which  is  so  plainly  to  rescue  Aristides  from 
total  eclipse  by  the  glory  of  Themistocles.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  Persian  disaster  at  Platsea,  prophesied  by  the 
ghost  of  Darius  (w.  816  ff.),  is  to  be  caused  by  "  the 
Dorian  spear."  With  the  two  greatest  stratagems  of  The- 
mistocles, Aristides  is  heartily  in  accord,  and  lends  his  active 
aid  to  carry  them  through.  But  just  as  the  later  romantic 
tradition  insists  on  emphasizing  and  multiplying  striking 
illustrations  of  the  cunning  and  unscrupulous  financial  suc- 
cesses of  Themistocles,  so,  and  in  much  the  same  degree, 
does  it  deal  with  the  probity  and  consequent  poverty  of 
Aristides.  The  more  the  two  characters  and  careers  were 
contrasted  by  rhetoricians  and  philosophers  of  the  fourth 
and  following  centuries,  the  more  the  piquant  illustrative 
material  was  multiplied,  until  it  is  a  grievous  task  to  thread 
one's  way,  even  in  the  case  of  so  prosaic  a  career  as  that  of 
Aristides,  between  fact  and  fiction.  There  is,  however,  this 
notable  difference  in  the  two  cases :  fiction  begins  to  accumu- 
late around  the  tradition  of  Themistocles'  career  during  his 


56  INTRODUCTION 

life-time,  owing  to  the  unsurpassed  romance  of  the  actual 
facts  of  his  life,  as  in  the  case  of  Alexander ;  whereas  the 
fiction  which  grew  up  about  the  tradition  of  Aristides' 
career  is  almost  wholly  a  product  of  later  centuries. 

The  Confederacy  of  Delos  was  undoubtedly  formed  (477) 
while  Aristides  and  Cimon  were  in  command  of  the  naval 
forces  which  Themistocles  had  created  for  them,  and  the 
delicate  question  of  the  contributions  of  the  allies  to  the 
common  fund  was  settled  under  their  general  guidance.  Later 
tradition  has  in  this  as  in  other  matters  concentrated  the 
credit  almost  wholly,  and  to  an  exaggerated  degree,  upon 
Aristides.  He  may  have  been  influential  in  the  matter,  but 
hardly  so  autocratic  as  romantic  writers  represent.  And  the 
salient  personality  of  the  traitor  Pausanias,  vividly  portrayed 
by  the  master  hand  of  Thucydides,  also  tended  to  evoke,  in 
the  tradition  of  the  rhetorical  and  philosophical  schools,  con- 
trasting traits  in  the  fainter  portrait  of  Aristides.  After  this 
he  falls  decidedly  into  the  background.  It  was  in  the  inter- 
ests of  Cimon,  not  Aristides,  that  Themistocles  was  ostracized 
(about  472),  and  the  brilliant  successes  of  Cimon  after  this 
seem  to  have  been  won  independently  of  his  former  patron 
and  friend.  Nothing  but  late  and  uncertain  testimony 
reaches  us  concerning  the  remaining  years  of  Aristides' 
life,  which  probably  closed  quietly  in  468  B.C.,  while  his 
more  brilliant  but  unfortunate  rival,  Themistocles,  was  a 
hunted  fugitive  among  the  Greek  cities  of  Asia  Minor. 

(6)  THE  SOURCES  OF  PLUTARCH  IN  HIS  ARISTIDES. 

The  sources  of  Plutarch  in  his  Aristides  are,  as  in  the 
Themistocles,  Herodotus  and  Thucydides  wherever  they 
afford  material ;  and  since  the  story  of  Plataea  in  Herodotus, 
and  of  the  fortification  of  Athens  and  the  Piraeus  in  Thu- 
cydides must  have  been  famous  specimens  of  those  great 
historians'  method  and  manner  to  Plutarch  as  well  as  to 
us,  it  cannot  be  allowed  that  Plutarch  makes  no  direct 
use  of  them.  How  he  uses  them,  what  variations  he  allows 


SOURCES  OF  PLUTARCH  IN  HIS  ARISTIDES  57 

himself  from  them,  what  combinations  from  other  sources 
he  makes  with  them,  are  questions  for  the  answer  to  which 
the  current  notes  will  afford  material.  He  cites  Hero- 
dotus by  name  only  twice  (xvi.  1 ;  xix.  4) ;  Thucydides  once 
(xxiv.  3.). 

Next  to  Herodotus  and  Thucydides,  Plutarch  seems  to  be 
most  indebted  in  this  Life  to  Idomeneus  of  Lampsacus  (see  {/ 
p.  42),  who  is  cited  by  name  thrice  (i.  5 ;  iv.  2  ;  x.  5),  and  to 
whose  work  many  other  portions  are,  in  all  probability,  largely 
indebted.  It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  assume  that  all 
the  departures  from  Herodotus  and  Thucydides  in  Plutarch 
are  due  to  Idomeneus.  Plutarch  undoubtedly  falls  of  neces- 
sity, from  sheer  lack  of  biographical  material,  into  the  con- 
structive manner  of  his  later  sources. 

Other  sources  common  to  the  Aristides  and  Themistodes, 
and  already  sufficiently  described  in  this  Introduction,  are, 
in  alphabetical  order :  — 

JEschylus,  from  whose  Seven  against  TJiebes  a  passage  is 
cited  in  iii.  3 ;  see  p.  30.  Ariston  of  Ceos,  cited  in  ii.  3 ; 
see  p.  41.  Aristotle  (Pseudo-),  cited  in  xxvii.  2 ;  see  p.  40. 
Craterus,  cited  in  xxvi.  1,  and  used  several  times  elsewhere ; 
see  p.  40.  Clidemus,  cited  in  xix.  3,  and  probably  used 
elsewhere ;  see  p.  39.  Plato,  cited  in  xxv.  6 ;  see  p.  36. 
Theophrastus,  cited  in  xxv.  2 ;  see  p.  41. 

The  other  sources  cited  by  name  in  the  Aristides,  —  these 
also  arranged  in  alphabetical  order,  —  are  as  follows  :  — 

-<Eschines  the  Socratic,  cited  for  the  long  and  dramatic 
story  of  Aristides  and  Callias  in  xxv.  6.  ^Eschines  was  an 
ardent  disciple  of  Socrates,  and  is  mentioned  by  Plato  among 
those  present  at  the  Master's  condemnation  and  death.  He 
was  author  of  seven  Socratic  dialogues  which  were  in  great 
repute.  Among  them  was  a  Callias,  from  which  the  story 
cited  probably  came.  It  is  a  useful  specimen  of  the  illustra- 
tive personal  anecdote  as  invented  by  the  philosophical 
schools.  It  has  high  rhetorical,  but  no  historical  worth. 

Aristoxenus  the  Musician,  cited  in  xxvii.  2,  with  three 
other  authorities  (namely,  Demetrius  the  Phalerean,  Hierony- 


58  INTRODUCTION 

mus  the  Rhodian,  and  Pseudo-Aristotle),  for  the  tradition 
that  Socrates  was  a  bigamist ;  but  as  sufficiently  refuted  by 
Pansetius.  This  makes  it  probable  that  the  citation  was 
taken  over  from  Panaetius  by  Plutarch.  Aristoxenus  was  a 
native  of  Tarentum,  and  became  a  pupil  of  Aristotle.  Of  his 
voluminous  writings  the  most  important  were  in  the  domain 
of  rhythm  and  metre,  and  these  alone  have  survived  in  any 
considerable  fragments.  On  these  subjects  he  is  the  greatest 
ancient  authority.  He  is  said  to  have  spoken  depreciatingly 
of  his  master,  Aristotle,  as  we  know  he  did  of  Plato  and 
Socrates,  in  his  Lives  of  these  men. 

Callisthenes,  cited  in  xxviL  2  for  an  item  concerning  a 
granddaughter  of  Aristides,  is  probably  the  Callisthenes  of 
Olynthus  who  was  a  pupil  of  Aristotle  with  Theophrastus 
and  Alexander,  and  accompanied  the  latter  on  his  eastern 
campaigns  as  historian,  by  recommendation  of  Aristotle.  He 
was  more  independent  and  sane  in  his  estimates  of  Alex- 
ander's achievements  than  many  other  contemporaries,  but 
his  weight  as  an  historical  witness  was  slight.  He  wrote  a 
general  history  of  Greece,  from  which  this  citation  of  Plu- 
tarch's comes,  perhaps  indirectly,  as  well  as  a  special  history 
of  Alexander's  campaigns  down  to  the  death  of  Darius  (330 
B.  c.).  None  of  his  works  have  reached  us,  except  in  frag- 
ments. His  own  death,  under  condemnation  of  Alexander, 
followed  shortly  after  that  of  Darius. 

Demetrius  of  Phalerum.  whose  book  on  Socrates  is  five 
times  cited  in  the  Aristides  (i.  1 ;  i.  5  ;  v.  5 ;  xxvii.  2 ;  xxvii.  3), 
was  regent  at  Athens  for  Cassander  from  317  to  307  B.  c.,  "  a 
cultured  high-liver,  playing  the  role  of  Savior  of  Society." 
He  had  a  singularly  varied  career  as  orator,  statesman,  philos- 
opher and  poet,  and  wrote  voluminously  on  history,  politics, 
poetry  and  rhetoric.  The  closing  years  of  his  life  (296-283), 
and  those  of  his  greatest  literary  activity,  were  spent  in 
Egypt  at  the  court  of  the  first  and  second  Ptolemies.  The 
genesis  of  the  great  Alexandrian  library  is  credited  to 
him.  It  looks  as  though  Plutarch  used  him  as  a  source 
only  when  discussing  the  academic  question  of  the  poverty 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  ARISTIDES  59 

of  Aristides,  and  then  perhaps  at  second  hand,  through 
Panaetius. 

Hieronymus  the  Ehodian,  cited  in  xxvii.  2,  probably  at 
second  hand,  was  a  disciple  of  Aristotle,  and  flourished 
about  300  B.  c.  Like  most  of  the  Peripatetic  school  he 
wrote  on  historical  subjects,  probably  in  the  way  of  com- 
pilation. He  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  his  contemporary, 
Hieronymus  of  Cardia,  who  wrote  a  history  of  Alexander's 
successors. 

Pansetius  the  Stoic,  of  Ehodes,  cited  in  L  4  and  xxvii.  2, 
flourished  between  150  and  110  B.  c.  He  was  the  chief 
founder  of  the  Stoic  school  at  Eome,  winning  over  to  his 
teachings  many  influential  Komans.  He  accompanied  the 
younger  Scipio  in  143  on  an  embassy  to  Alexandria,  and 
succeeded  to  the  headship  of  the  Stoic  school  at  Athens, 
where  he  died.  He  showed  a  rare  critical  attitude  toward 
the  loose  and  romantic  traditions  of  history.  He  wrote 
essays  on  ethical  themes  like  those  of  Plutarch's  Morals,  and 
was  thus,  both  in  career  and  literary  inclinations,  an  author 
sure  to  be  congenial  to  Plutarch.  It  was  probably  in  a 
special  tract "  On  Socrates  "  that  he  discussed  the  positions  of 
Demetrius  concerning  that  teacher. 

In  chapter  ix.  of  the  Aristides,  Plutarch  evidently  uses  his 
own  Themistocles  for  material  there  (c.  xiii.  2)  ascribed  to 
Phanias  (see  p.  41). 

In  chapter  v.  5,  the  official  lists  of  archons  to  which 
Plutarch  refers  may  be  an  independent  source,  and  not 
found,  as  the  current  note  suggests,  in  Clidemus,  or  some 
other  of  the  archaeological  Atthis-writeTS. 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  Ephorus  is  used  in  adapting 
Herodotus'  account  of  the  battles  of  Platsea,  chapters  X.-XXL 
see  p.  37. 

(c)  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  ARISTIDES 

The  Aristides  is  no  such  work  of  art  as  the  Themistocles. 
It  is  clearly  something  of  a  tour  de  force,  in  order  to  secure 
as  good  a  match  as  possible  for  the  Cato,  with  which  it 


60  INTRODUCTION 

is  paired.  The  principle  of  parallelism  is  the  least  success- 
ful of  Plutarch's  contributions  to  biography,  and  the  one 
with  which  we  can  at  the  least  loss  dispense.  Its  aim  was 
not  historical,  but  ethical,  and  the  history  is  often  strained 
to  secure  the  desired  similarity  in  ethical  situation.  In 
moral  character  Themistocles  may  be  somewhat  allied  with 
Camillus,  and  Aristides  with  Cato,  but  not  as  historical  per- 
sonalities,—  not  as  statesmen  or  warriors.  Aristides  was 
not  an  aggressive  personality  like  Themistocles,  or  like  Cato, 
and  for  that  very  reason  little  authentic  personal  detail  about 
him  was  handed  down  to  the  generation  immediately  follow- 
ing him.  This  is  true  of  the  earlier  career  of  Themistocles,  — 
the  career  before  the  threatened  invasion  of  Xerxes,  —  but  im- 
mediately ceases  to  be  true,  so  that  there  was  an  embarrass- 
ment of  riches  in  the  material  at  Plutarch's  command  for 
writing  his  Life.  But  it  is  true  of  the  entire  career  of  Aris- 
tides, so  that  Plutarch  is  put  to  it  to  get  material  enough  for 
a  biography.  He  therefore  follows  a  clue  given  him  by  the 
third-century  biographers  and  historians,  and  ascribes  to 
Aristides  personally  all  that  Herodotus  and  Thucydides  credit 
to  the  Athenians  in  general  Occasionally  he  goes  further, 
and  ascribes  to  Aristides  what  the  elder  sources  clearly 
ascribe  to  other  distinct  individuals.  This  gives  him  the 
bulk  of  his  biography.  For  the  rest,  he  draws,  as  in  the 
Themistocles,  on  late  and  apocryphal  anecdotic  material,  or 
he  moralizes,  or  discusses  at  undue  length  such  academical 
questions  as  the  poverty  of  his  hero,  or  digresses  into  descrip- 
tions of  battles  and  monuments  and  celebrations,  far  beyond 
the  lines  which  he  has  elsewhere  laid  down  for  himself. 
Historically,  however,  the  Themistocles  and  Aristides  supple- 
ment each  other  in  the  most  welcome  manner,  as  do  the 
Pompey  and  Ccesar,  and  this  is  excuse  enough  for  abandon- 
ing Plutarch's  questionable  parallelism  between  Roman  and 
Greek,  and  adopting  one  between  two  Athenian  rival  states- 
men and  commanders. 

Any  analysis  of  the  Aristides  must  be  more  arbitrary  than 
that  of  the  Themistocles,  since  it  is  more  loosely  constructed. 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  ARTS  TIDES  61 

If  arbitrary,  it  may  well  be  such  as  will  facilitate  compari- 
son of  the  two  careers.  On  this  principle,  the  first  division 
of  the  Aristides,  chapters  L-vii.,  will  cover  the  birth,  station, 
and  property  of  the  hero,  his  early  rivalry  with  Themistocles 
and  contrast  to  him  in  disposition  and  character,  his  be- 
havior and  services  at  Marathon,  and  his  ostracism,  —  a 
period  from  an  uncertain  date  well  towards  the  middle  of 
the  sixth  century,  down  to  483  B.  c. 

Aristides  was  of  noble  birth,  according  to  Plutarch,  but 
poor,  a  position  from  which  no  evidence  will  drive  the 
amiable  writer.  He  was  the  intimate  friend  of  the  great 
democratic  reformer  Clisthenes  (508),  but  favored  an  aris- 
tocratic form  of  government,  like  the  Spartan,  and  so  came 
into  life-long  opposition  to  Themistocles.  Generous  apocry- 
phal material  is  adduced  to  account  for  and  illustrate  this 
rivalry  in  character  and  political  activity,  as  well  as  the 
calm,  undeviating  rectitude  of  Aristides.  The  tradition  of 
Marathon  as  established  by  Herodotus  is  altered  and  enlarged 
with  apocryphal  material  to  show  the  bravery,  unselfishness, 
and  perfect  incorruptibility  of  Aristides.  The  surname  of 
"  The  Just "  is  carried  back  from  the  fourth  century  to  the 
fifth  for  him,  some  mild  philosophy  is  expended  on  the 
themes  of  "  virtue  "  and  "  justice,"  and  the  ostracism  is  made 
to  descend  upon  him  because  Themistocles  made  the 
Athenians  think  him  too  just.  No  passage  could  better 
illustrate  Plutarch's  lack  of  grasp  for  political  crises.  It  is 
not  the  opposition  of  Aristides  to  the  popular  naval  policy 
of  Themistocles  which  brings  his  ostracism  by  the  Athenian 
people,  according  to  Plutarch,  but  their  jealousy  of  his 
superior  "justice." 

While  Herodotus,  of  course,  furnishes  the  foundation  for 
the  picture  of  Marathon,  he  is  not  mentioned  by  name,  and 
his  version  is  altered  and  supplemented  in  sundry  ways 
under  the  stress  of  dearth  of  material,  and  the  influence  of 
late,  third-century  writers.  Demetrius  of  Phalerum,  Ido- 
meneus  of  Lampsacus,  and  Pansetius  the  Stoic  are  the 
writers  cited  by  name  in  this  division,  and  there  is  the  same 


62  INTRODUCTION 

indication  here  and  there,  as  in  the  Themistocles,  of  aggrega- 
tions of  authorities  who  might  be  cited  on  this  side  of  a  ques- 
tion or  on  that.  But  in  general,  the  Aristides  draws  from  a  far 
smaller  range  of  sources  than  the  Themistocles,  and  it  is  prob- 
able  that  some  single  guide,  like  Jdomeneus,  is  more  exten- 
sively followed,  even  though  controverted  at  times  in  detail, 

The  second  division  of  the  Life,  chapters  viii,  ix.,  covers 
simply  the  participation  of  Aristides  in  the  battle  of  Salamis 
and  the  counsels  which  immediately  followed  it.  The  out- 
line is  Herodotean,  though  great  liberties  have  been  taken 
with  the  shading,  and  some  apocryphal  embellishments  from 
late  sources  have  been  added,  as  the  current  notes  fully 
show.  No  authority  is  cited  by  name  in  this  division,  not 
even  Herodotus,  because  Plutarch  evidently  assumes  the 
familiarity  of  his  reader  with  that  historian's  greater  story. 
Besides,  Salamis  was  the  glory  of  Themistocles,  not  of 
Aristides,  even  with  all  the  accretions  of  later  invention, 
and  had  already  been  fully  described  by  Plutarch  in  the 
Themistocles. 

The  third  division  of  the  Life,  chapters  x.-xxi.,  covers  the 
campaign  of  479,  ending  with  the  battles  of  Platasa.  This  is 
the  main  division  of  the  biography.  It  is  practically  the 
story  of  Plataea  by  Herodotus,  freely  adapted  and  supple- 
mented by  material  from  Ephorus  and  later  writers,  as  the 
current  notes  show  in  detail,  and  above  all  individualized, 
so  far  "as  Athenian  participation  allowed  at  all,  in  favor  of 
Aristides.  Aristides  is  made  to  appear  the  chief  figure, — 
the  real,  though  not  the  nominal  commander  of  the  Greek 
forces,  without  whom  Pausanias  would  have  made  a  disas- 
trous campaign  of  it.  Herodotus  is  cited  once  by  name  for 
material  differing  essentially  from  that  which  he  really 
gives,  —  very  likely  a  citation  from  memory,  confused  with 
other  reading ;  and  once  by  name  in  order  to  protest,  —  and 
protest  most  righteously,  —  against  his  partisan  Athenian 
version  of  the  losses  in  the  battles.  Idomeneus  is  cited  once 
by  name,  with  the  implication  that  his  version  of  the  matter 
is  exaggerated  and  untrue ;  Cratems  is  used  to  refute  him, 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  ARISTIDES  63 

though  not  mentioned  by  name  (x.  5).  The  vague  plural 
"some"  is  used  once  when  the  reference  is  clearly  to  a 
definite  antiquarian  authority,  teaching  us  that  other  vague 
plural  terms  of  reference  may  cover  single  authorities. 

The  fourth  division  of  the  Aristides,  chapters  xxii., 
xxiii.,  covers  the  diminishing  activity  of  the  hero  in  the  years 
immediately  following  Plataea,  as  his  light  paled  before  that 
of  Cimon,  and  especially  his  part  in  securing  the  naval 
supremacy  for  Athens,  and  in  regulating  the  financial  affairs 
of  the  new  Delian  League.  The  probabilities  are  wrenched 
to  make  him  survive  and  even  acquiesce  in  the  transfer  of 
the  treasury  of  the  League  from  Delos  to  Athens.  Then  noth- 
ing remains  but  to  revert  to  the  standing  themes  of  his  justice 
and  poverty,  with  which  the  biography  opened,  and  the  stan- 
dard close,  as  in  the  Themistocles,  is  found  in  accounts  of  his 
death,  burial,  and  posterity.  Late  personalization  of  general 
history,  and  apocryphal  anecdote  abound  in  this  portion  of 
the  Life,  as  was  to  be  expected  in  the  absence  of  authentic 
material.  For  the  transfer  of  the  naval  hegemony,  Thu- 
cydides  is,  of  course,  the  ultimate  authority,  though  for  this 
part  he  is  not  cited  by  name,  and  his  testimony  is  greatly 
distorted  in  the  free-hand  elaboration  of  it  which  either 
Plutarch  himself  makes,  or  adopts  from  Idomeneus.  Thu- 
cydides  is  cited  by  name  for  the  item  of  the  amount  of  annual 
income  to  the  Athenian  imperial  treasury ;  Theophrastus,  for 
a  paradoxical  and  improbable  story  illustrative  of  justice 
yielding  to  the  demands  of  expediency ;  ^Eschines  the  Socratic, 
for  a  dramatic  and  purely  fictitious  story  contrasting  the 
poor  Aristides  with  the  wealthy  Callias ;  Plato,  for  a  senti- 
ment which  is  a  combination  of  two  widely  separated 
utterances  quoted  freely  from  memory ;  and,  regarding  the 
posterity  of  the  hero,  Pansetius  the  Stoic  evidently  supplies 
Plutarch  with  a  group  of  five  authorities  whom  we  need  not 
suppose  him  to  have  consulted  independently :  Aristoxenus, 
Callisthenes,  Demetrius  of  Phalerum,  Hieronymus  the  Rho- 
dian,  and  Pseudo-Aristotle.  Craterus  again  furnishes  docu- 
mentary material  without  getting  explicit  credit  for  it,  and 


64  INTRODUCTION 

is  once  censured  by  name  for  not  basing  his  statements  on 
his  usual  good  evidence.  In  chapter  xxii.  Plutarch  evi- 
dently uses  again  his  own  Themistocles  (c.  xx.),  as  in  xxiii  1 
he  borrows  and  adapts  from  his  own  Cimon  (cc.  v.,  vi.).  The 
presence  and  influence  of  Idomeneus  is  most  strongly  felt  in 
such  a  chapter  as  xxiv. ;  the  moulding  and  blending  and 
generously  supplying  hand  of  Plutarch,  hi  such  a  chapter  as 
xxv.  In  the  opening  of  chapter  xxvi  Plutarch  seems  to 
divide  all  the  sources  whom  he  has  laid  under  contribution 
for  his  Aristides  into  three  classes:  Craterus,  with  his  un- 
substantiated story  of  the  death  of  Aristides  under  condem- 
nation for  bribery ;  "  some,"  who  say  he  died  in  Pontus  on  a 
commission  of  state ;  "  others,"  who  say  he  died  at  Athens 
in  age  and  honor.  Altogether,  this  closing  division  of  the 
Aristides  shows  how  impossible  it  is  to  set  bounds  to  the 
freely  shaping  activity  of  Plutarch  upon  generously  accumu- 
lated material,  even  though  he  may  follow  more  closely  than 
elsewhere,  or  than  usual,  some  one  convenient  biographical 
predecessor. 

IV.  BIOGRAPHY  BEFORE  PLUTARCH. 

The  survey  of  authorities  thus  made  merely  for  two  Lives, 
shows  plainly  that  Plutarch  was  by  no  means  the  originator 
of  artistic  biography.  He  marks  rather  the  culmination  of 
a  long  process  of  evolution  both  in  material  and  form.  The 
main  lines  of  this  evolution  can  be  traced,  in  spite  of  the 
enormous  losses  which  Greek  literature  has  sustained. 

The  great  intellectual  movement  at  Athens  toward  the 
close  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  which  is  voiced  for  us  by 
such  exponents  as  Euripides,  Thucydides,  and  Socrates, 
directed  attention  to  the  individual  and  the  personal  as 
the  only  true  source  of  any  proper  conception  of  the  typi- 
cal, the  general,  and  the  universal.  When  Thucydides 
wrote  his  elaborate  excursus  on  the  end  of  Pausanias  and 
Themistocles,  the  greatest  Hellenes  of  then-  time,  he  gave 
us  our  earliest  specimen  of  Greek  biography,  —  portions  of 


BIOGRAPHY  BEFORE  PLUTARCH  65 

Lives,  with   distinct   character-sketching.     The  more  com-  \y 
plete  and  rounded  character-sketches  in  Xenophon's  Ana-  ^ 
basis,  written   during  the   second    quarter   of    the    fourth 
century,  show  that  the  biographical  element  was   finding 
larger  and  larger  place  in  distinctly  historical  composition, 
probably  owing  to  the-  development,  as  distinct  literary  forms, 
of  the  Eulogy  and  the  Encomium.     The  rhetorical  historians 
of  the   second  half   of  the   fourth  century,  Ephorus  and  -^ 
Theopompus,  evidently  responded  still  more  to  the  growing,  I/" 
and    now  perhaps  prevailing  tendency  to   emphasize  the 
importance  of  the  individual  man  as  a  shaping  factor  in 
the  course  of  events.     It  was  an  era  of  great,  and  even 
colossal  personalities.      Its  history  had  to  be  largely  biog- 
raphy.   It  was  therefore  natural  that,  when  earlier  history 
was  rewritten  to  serve  as  introduction  and  background  for 
the  new,  its  meagre  traditions  should  be  generously  individ- 
ualized, so  that,  for  instance,  what  had  been  ascribed  to 
Athenians  or  Lacedaemonians  in  general,  should  now  be 
made  the  personal  achievement  of  a  Themistocles,  an  Aris- 
tides,  or  a  Pausanias. 

The  great  schools  of  philosophy,  too,  the  Academic  and  v'' 
the  Peripatetic,  studiously  fostered  an  interest  in  the  greater 
personalities,  —  at  first  the  men  of  thought,  the  thinkers  and 
teachers,  then  the  men  of  action,  statesmen  and  commanders. 
Plato  and  Xenophon  had  realized  to  themselves  and  trans- 
mitted to  others  intensely  vivid  conceptions  of  the  character 
and  life  of  Socrates  their  Master.  Successors  to  Plato  in 
the  line  of  Academic  teaching  elaborated  lovingly  their 
memoirs  of  the  Great  Disciple  as  well  as  of  the  Founder; 
and  rival  teachers  in  the  rival  school,  like  Aristoxenus 
of  Tarentum,  wrote  Lives  of  Socrates  and  Plato  which 
were  not  loving,  but  malicious.  Aristoxenus,  the  founder 
of  a  school  of  Peripatetic  biographers,  had  none  too  much 
love  for  his  own  Master,  Aristotle. 

It  was  Aristotle  who,  by  his  general  teachings  and  methods, 
initiated  the  greatest  activity  in  the  collection  and  presenta- 
tion in  literary  form  of  biographical  details.  It  was  on  the 

5 


66  INTRODUCTION 

broadest  collections  and  the  most  detailed  study  of  individual 
cases  that  he  based  his  theories  of  Politics  and  Poetry.  Such 
an  historical  and  antiquarian  treatise  as  his  Constitution  of 
Athens  has  a  large  biographical  element,  and  gives  us  strong 
character-sketches  of  Solon,  Pisistratus,  Themistocles,  Aris- 
tides,  Theramenes,  and  others.  Between  one  hundred  and  three 
hundred  similar  Polities  preceded  and  formed  the  basis  for 
his  Politics.  So  an  indefinitely  large  number  of  biographical 
sketches  of  individual  Poets  preceded  and  formed  the  basis 
for  his  Poetics.  These  Lives  of  Poets  are  lost,  though  much 
of  the  material  which  composed  them  has  undoubtedly  come 
down  to  us  in  later  compilations  based  upon  them. 

The  followers  and  disciples  of  Aristotle,  beginning  with 
Theophrastus,  and  continuing  through  Aristoxenus,  Phanias, 
and  Neanthes,  who  are  most  important  for  the  historical  tra- 
dition at  present  under  study,  not  only  used  the  personal 
anecdote  freely  as  the  basis  for  philosophical  discussion,  — 
where  the  philosophical  discussion  was  the  main  thing, 
rather  than  the  truth  of  the  personal  anecdote,  —  but  ex- 
tended the  literary  form  of  the  independent  Life  to  all 
"  Illustrious  Men,"  as  well  as  philosophers  and  poets.  This 
biography  of  the  Peripatetic  school  had  certain  character- 
istic features  which  stand  out  distinctly,  even  though  their 
work  is  known  only  in  fragments.  It  did  not  hesitate  to 
bring  under  its  general  method  the  lives  of  men  of  such 
early  periods  that  there  could  be  no  authentic  personal  detail 
about  them ;  in  lieu  of  authenticdetail,  it  was  prone  to  accept 
as  authentic  all  sorts  of  legend  and  invention  without  any 
critical  sifting  whatever;  it  even  indulged  freely  in  the 
invention  of  detail  for  the  illustration  of  general  traits  of 
character  assumed,  and  often  descended  to  the  invention 
of  slanderous  detail  in  the  case  of  characters  which  were 
out  of  the  range  of  its  particular  political  or  philosophical 
sympathies. 

Besides  these  philosophical  schools  of  biography,  and 
largely  indebted  to  their  activity,  there  arose  at  Alexandria, 
especially  during  the  third  and  second  centuries  B.  c.,  a  learned 


BIOGRAPHY  BEFORE  PLUTARCH  67 

or  philological  school  of  biography,  whose  Lives  were  based 
on  material  laboriously  collected  from  the  unlimited  resources 
of  the  great  Alexandrian  library.  The  material  thus  col- 
lected was  used  chiefly  to  furnish  compact  introductions  to 
literary  works,  and  reappears  in  later  and  sometimes  anony- 
mous Lives,  and  in  such  compilations  as  those  of  Diogenes 
Laertius,  and  Suidas.  The  chronological  histories  of  Eratos- 
thenes, for  instance,  must  have  contained  generous  biographical 
material.  Later  Peripatetic  philosophers  also,  like  Hermippus 
and  Satyrus,  and  historians  like  Idomeneus  and  Phylarchus, 
availed  themselves  of  the  biographical  material  collected  by 
the  learned  grammarians  of  the  Alexandrian  school,  in  the 
composition  of  their  Lives  of  illustrious  men.  They  added 
the  embellishments  in  which  their  school  delighted,  and  gave 
attractive  literary  form  to  learned  matter. 

All  this  long  succession  of  biographical  work  lay  ready  for 
the  use  of  such  late  biographers  as  Nepos  and  Plutarch.  It 
was  the  literary  deposit  of  generations  of  artistic  and  learned 
labor.  Not  only  had  such  biographical  material  as  the  older 
historians  furnished  been  culled  out  and  arranged  in  an  order 
adapted  to  the  limited  Lives  of  particular  men,  but  well- 
defined  types  of  character  had  been  established  for  most 
of  the  illustrious  men  whose  Lives  might  be  desired,  and 
even  the  general  form  and  structure  of  a  biography  had 
become  established.  There  was  a  recognized  technique 
of  biography  long  before  Plutarch,  to  the  general  features  of 
which  it  can  be  seen  that  he  conforms,  at  least  in  many  of 
his  Lives.  Both  the  Themistocles  and  Aristides  have  this  con- 
ventional form,  which  was,  in  most  respects,  a  perfectly  nat- 
ural development.  First  comes  Birth,  Family,  and  Education ; 
then  the  Type  of  Character ;  then  such  Deeds  and  Achieve- 
ments, as  best  illustrate  that  type  of  character,  —  the  char- 
acter dominating  the  selection  of  deeds;  and  lastly  the 
Death,  Burial,  Posterity,  and  Subsequent  Influence.  Even 
the  rhetorical  device  of  "  comparison "  between  two  charac- 
ters is  as  old  as  Isocrates ;  Polybius  and  Posidonius  compared 
and  contrasted  Greeks  and  Eomans,  though  not  in  technical 


68  INTRODUCTION 

biographies;  Plutarch  lifts  the  casual  comparison  into  the 
dignity  of  an  almost  constant  Epilogue.  His  "  famous 
sayings,"  too,  are  not  all  of  his  own  gathering.  They  were 
a  standing  feature  of  technical  biography  before  he  wrote. 
In  the  cases  of  Themistocles  and  Aristides,  Plutarch  prob- 
ably had  accessible  for  his  use  a  long  line  of  biographies 
of  these  particular  men,  and  especially  a  biography  of  The- 
mistocles by  Phanias,  and  one  of  Aristides  by  Idomeneus,  in 
which  much  labor  of  compilation  was  spared  him,  but  to 
which  he  adds  generously  from  his  own  stores,  and  imparts  — 
what  is  of  the  highest  importance  —  his  own  spirit,  so  that 
though  he  follows  their  form  and  uses  their  material,  he 
gives  his  own  independent  interpretation  to  the  characters 
under  study,  often  reverting,  in  support  of  his  own  interpre- 
tation, to  earlier  and  more  authoritative  evidence  than  that 
furnished  him  by  the  biographies  on  which  he  chiefly  relies. 
lHalice  and  envy  certainly  have  no  place  in  his  reconstruc- 
tion of  biographical  material,  however  tolerant  his  attitude 
may  be  toward  sensational  or  picturesque  invention;  and 
however  unscientific  his  reconstruction  of  given  material 
may  be,  it  is  often  in  the  highest  degree  artistic. 


Alphabetical  List  of  Authorities  cited  by  Plutarch  in  the 
Themistocles. 

Acestodorus XITI.  1  Neanthes     .    .    .    .  1. 2 ;  XXIX.  4 

^schylus XIV.  1  f Phanias \    .  I.  2  ;  VII.  4  ;  XIII.  2  ; 

Anclocides XXXII.  2  '                           XXVII.  3  ;  XXIX.  4 

Ariston  of  Ceos III.  2      Phanodemus XIII.  1 

Aristophanes  Comicus    .    .      XIX.  3      Phylarchus XXXII.  2 

Aristotle       .......     X.  3      Pindar VIII.  2 

Charon  of  Lampsacus    .      XXVII.  1       Plato IV.  3  ;  XXXII.  1 

Clidemus X.  4  Plato  Comicus  ....      XXXII.  3 

Clitarchus XXVII.  1  Simonides    ....       I.  3  ;  XV.  2 

Dinon  of  Colophon    .     .      XXVII.  1  Stesimbrotus  II.  3  ;  IV.  3  ;  XXIV.  3 

Diodoms  the  Topographer  XXXII.  3  Theophrastus    ....    XXV.  1,  3 

Ephorus XXVII.  1  Theopompus     .    XIX.  1  ;  XXV.  3  ; 

Eratosthenes     ....      XXVII.  3  XXXI.  2 

Heracleides XXVII.  1  Thucydides  .    .  XXV.  1 ;  XXVII.  1 

Herodotus  VII.  3  ;  XVII.  1 ;  XXI.  1  Timocreon  of  Rhodes     .     .    .    XXI. 


BIOGRAPHY  BEFORE  PLUTARCH 


69 


Alphabetical  List  of  Authorities  cited  by  Plutarch  in  the 
Aristides. 


^Eschines  the  Socratic  .    .     XXV.  6 

jEschylus III.  3 

Ariston  of  Ceos II.  3 

Aristotle  (Pseudo-)  .  .  XXVII.  2 
Aristoxenus  the  Musician  XXVII.  2 
CalHsthenes  ....  XXVII.  2 

Clidemus XIX.  3 

Craterus XXVI.  1 

Thucydides     .    . 


Demetrius  the  Phalerean  .      1. 1,  5  ; 

V.  5  ;  XXVII.  2,  3 

Herodotus  .    .    .    XVI.  1 ;  XIX.  4 

Hieronymus  the  Pthodian     XXVII.  2 

i  IdomeneuT"^  .     .  I.  5 ;  IV.  2  ;  X.  5 

Panaitius     ...      I.  4  ;  XXVII.  2 

Plato XXV.  6 

Theophrastus XXV.  2 

XXIV.  3 


THEMISTOCLES 


THEMISTOCLES 

I.  ...  BUT  in  the  case  of  Themistocles,  his  family 
was  too  obscure  to  further  his  reputation.  His  father 
was  Neocles,  —  no  very  conspicuous  man  at  His  family. 
Athens, — a  Phrearrhian  by  deme,  of  the  tribe  Leontis; 
and  on  his  mother's  side  he  was  an  alien,  as  her 
epitaph  testifies :  — 

"  Abrotonon  was  I,  and  a  woman  of  Thrace,  yet  I  brought  forth 
That  great  light  of  the  Greeks, — know  !  't  was  Themistocles." 

Phanias,  however,  writes  that  the  mother  of  The- 2 
mistocles  was  not  a  Thracian,  but  a  Carian  woman, 
and  that  her  name  was  not  Abrotonon,  but  Euterpe. 
And  Neanthes  actually  adds  the  name  of  her  city 
in  Caria,  —  Halicarnassus. 

It  was  for  the  reason  given,  and  because  the  aliens 
were  wont  to  frequent  Cynosarges,  —  this  is  a  place 
outside  the  gates,  a  gymnasium  of  Heracles ;  for  he 
too  was  not  a  legitimate  god,  but  had  something 
alien  about  him,  from  the  fact  that  his  mother  was 
a  mortal,  —  that  Themistocles  sought  to  induce  cer- 
tain well  born  youth  to  go  out  to  Cynosarges  and 
exercise  with  him ;  and  by  his  success  in  this  bit  of 
cunning  he  is  thought  to  have  removed  the  distinc- 
tion between  aliens  and  legitimates. 

However,  it  is  clear  that  he  was  connected  with  3 
the  family  of    the  Lycomidse,   for  he  caused  the 


74  THEMISTOCLES 

chapel-shrine  at  Phlya,  which  belonged  to  the  Lyco- 
midae  and  had  been  burned  by  the  Barbarians,  to 
be  restored  at  his  own  costs  and  adorned  with 
frescoes,  as  Simonides  has  stated. 

II.   However  lowly  his  birth,  it  is  agreed  on  all 
hands  that  while  yet  a  boy  he  was  impetuous,  by 
nature  sagacious,  and  by  election  enterpris- 
youth  and     ing  and  prone  to  public  life.     In  times  of 
relaxation  and  leisure,  when  absolved  from 
his  lessons,  he  would  not  play  nor  indulge  his  ease, 
as  the  rest  of  the  boys  did,  but  would  be  found  com- 
posing and  rehearsing  to  himself   mock   speeches. 
These  speeches  would  be  in  accusation  or  defence  of 
some  boy  or  other. 

2  Wherefore  his  teacher  was  wont  to  say  to  him: 
"My  boy,  thou  wilt  be  nothing  insignificant,  but 
something  great,   of  a  surety,  either  for  good   or 
evil."     Moreover,  when  he  was  set  to  study,  those 
branches  which  aimed  at  the  formation  of  character, 
or  ministered  to  any  gratification  or  grace  of  a  lib- 
eral sort,  he  would  learn  reluctantly  and  sluggishly ; 
and  to  all  that  was  said  for  the  cultivation  of  sagacity 
or  practical  efficiency  he  showed  an  indifference  far 
beyond  his  years,  as  though  he  put  his  confidence  in 
his  natural  gifts  alone. 

3  Thus  it  came  about  that,  in  after  life,  at  entertain- 
ments of  a  so-called  liberal  and  polite  nature,  when 
he  was  taunted  by  men  of  reputed  culture,  he  was 
forced  to  defend  himself  rather  rudely,  saying  that 
tuning  the  lyre  and  handling  the  harp  were  no  accom- 
plishments of  his,  but  rather  taking  a  city  that  was 


YOUTH  AND  EDUCATION  75 

small   and   inglorious   and   making   it  glorious  and 
great. 

And  yet  Stesimbrotus  says  that  Themistocles  was 
a  pupil  of  Anaxagoras,  and  a  disciple  of  Melissus  the 
physicist ;  but  he  is  careless  in  his  chronology.  It 
was  Pericles,  a  much  younger  man  than  Themistocles, 
whom  Melissus  opposed  at  the  siege  of  Samos,  and 
with  whom  Anaxagoras  was  intimate. 

Rather,  then,  might  one  side  with  those  who  say* 
that  Themistocles  was  a  devotee  of  Mnesiphilus  the 
Phrearrhian,  a  man  who  was  neither  a  rhetorician 
nor  one  of  the  so-called  physical  philosophers,  but  a 
cultivator  of  what  was  then  called  sophia,  or  wisdom, 
although  it  was  really  nothing  morQ  than  cleverness 
in  politics  and  practical  sagacity.  Mnesiphilus  re- 
ceived this  sophia,  and  handed  it  down,  as  though  it 
were  the  doctrine  of  a  sect,  in  unbroken  tradition 
from  Solon.  His  successors  blended  it  with  forensic 
arts,  and  shifted  its  application  from  public  affairs  to 
language,  and  were  dubbed  "  sophists."  It  was  this 
man,  then,  to  whom  Themistocles  resorted  at  the 
very  beginning  of  his  public  life. 

But  in  the  first  essays  of  his  youth  he  was  uneven  5 
and  unstable,  since  he  gave  his  natural  impulses  free 
course,  which,  without  due  address  and  training,  rush 
to  violent  extremes  in  the  objects  of  their  pursuit, 
and  often  degenerate  ;  as  he  himself  in  later  life  con- 
fessed, when  he  said  that  the  wildest  colts  too  made 
very  good  horses  if  only  they  got  the  proper  breaking 
and  training. 

What  some  story-makers  add  to  this,  however,  toe 


76  THEMISTOCLES 

the  effect  that  his  father  disinherited  him,  and  his 
mother  took  her  own  life  for  very  grief  at  her  son's 
ill-fame,  this  I  think  is  false.  And,  in  just  the 
opposite  vein,  there  are  some  who  say  that  his  father 
fondly  tried  to  divert  him  from  public  life,  pointing 
out  to  him  old  triremes  on  the  sea-shore,  all  wrecked 
and  neglected,  and  claiming  that  the  people  treated 
their  leaders  in  like  fashion  when  these  were  past 
service. 

III.  Speedily,  however,  as  it  seems,  and  while  he 
was  still  in  all  the  ardor  of  youth,  did  public  affairs 
Entrance  lay  their  grasp  upon  Thetnistocles,  and  ex- 

into  politics :  •       i       i  •  i   i  •      •  i  •  ,  • 

rivalry  with    cessively  did  his  impulse  to  win  reputation 


mastery   over    him.     Wherefore, 

the  "  trophy  * 


."  from  the  very  beginning,  in  his  desire  to 
be  first,  he  boldly  encountered  the  enmity  of  men 
who  had  power  and  were  already  first  in  the  city, 
especially  that  of  Aristides  the  son  of  Lysimachus, 
who  was  always  his  opponent. 

And  yet  it  is  thought  that  his  enmity  with  this 
man  had  an  altogether  puerile  beginning.  They 
were  both  lovers  of  the  beautiful  Stesilaiis,  a  native 
of  Ceos,  as  Ariston  the  philosopher  has  recorded,  and 
thenceforward  they  continued  to  be  rivals  in  public 
life  also. 

2  However,  the  dissimilarity  in  their  lives  and  char- 
acters is  likely  to  have  increased  their  variance.  Aris- 
tides was  gentle  by  nature,  and  a  conservative  in 
character.  He  engaged  in  public  life,  not  to  win 
favor  or  reputation,  but  to  secure  the  best  results 
consistent  with  safety  and  righteousness,  and  so  he 


MARITIME  POLICY  77 

was  compelled,  since  Themistocles  stirred  the  people 
up  to  many  novel  enterprises  and  introduced  great 
innovations,  to  oppose  him  often,  and  to  take  a  firm 
stand  against  his  increasing  influence: 

It  is  said,  indeed,  that  Themistocles  was  so  carried  3 
away  by  his  desire  for  reputation,  and  such  an  am- 
bitious lover  of  great  deeds,  that,  though  he  was  still 
a  young  man  when  the  battle  with  the  Barbarians  at 
Marathon  was  fought  and  the  generalship  of  Mil- 
tiades  was  in  everybody's  mouth,  he  was  seen  there- 
after to  be  wrapped  in  his  own  thoughts  for  the  most 
part,  and  was  sleepless  o'  nights,  and  refused  invita- 
tions to  his  customary  drinking  parties,  and  said  to 
those  who  put  wondering  questions  to  him  concern- 
ing his  change  of  life  that  the  trophy  of  Miltiades 
would  not  suffer  him  to  sleep. 

Now  the  rest  of  his  countrymen  thought  that  the  4 
defeat  of  the  Barbarians  at  Marathon  was  the  end 
of  the  war;  but  Themistocles  thought  it  to  be  only 
the  beginning  of  greater  contests,  and  for  these  he 
anointed  himself,  as  it  were,  to  be  the  champion  of 
all  Hellas,  and  put  his  city  into  training,  because, 
while  it  was  yet  afar  off,  he  expected  the  evil  that 
was  to  come. 

IV.  And  so,  in  the  first  place,  whereas  the  Athe- 
nians were  wont  to  divide  up  among  themselves  the 
revenue  coming  from  the  silver  mines  at  He  converts 
Laureium,  he,  and  he  alone,  dared  to  come  Atheu.8  mto 

a  maritime 

before  the  people  with  a  motion  that  this  power, 
division  be  given  up,  and  that  with  these  moneys 
triremes  be  constructed  for  the  war  against  ^Egina. 


78  THEMISTOCLES 

2  This  was  the  greatest  war  then  raging  in  Hellas,  and 
the  islanders  controlled  the  sea,  owing  to  the  number 
of  their  ships.  Wherefore  all  the  more  easily  did 
Themistocles  carry  his  point,  not  by  trying  to  terrify 
the  citizens  with  dreadful  pictures  of  Darius  or  the 
Persians,  —  these  were  too  far  away  and  inspired  no 
very  serious  fear  of  their  coming,  —  but  by  making 
opportune  use  of  the  bitter  jealousy  which  they  cher- 
ished toward  ^Egina  in  order  to  secure  the  armament 
he  desired.  The  result  was  that  with  those  moneys 
they  built  an  hundred  triremes,  which  actually  fought 
at  Salamis  against  Xerxes. 

8  And  after  this,  by  luring  the  city  on  gradually  and 
turning  its  progress  toward  the  sea,  claiming  that  with 
their  infantry  they  were  no  match  even  for  their 
nearest  neighbors,  but  that  with  the  power  they 
would  get  from  their  ships  they  could  not  only  repel 
the  Barbarians  but  also  take  the  lead  in  Hellas,  he 
made  them,  instead  of  "steadfast  hoplites,"  —  to  quote 
Plato's  words,  —  sea-tossed  mariners,  and  brought 
down  upon  himself  this  accusation:  "Themistocles, 
forsooth,  robbed  his  fellow-citizens  of  spear  and 
shield,  and  degraded  the  people  of  Athens  to  the 
rowing-pad  and  the  oar."  And  this  he  accomplished 
in  triumph  over  the  public  opposition  of  Miltiades, 
as  Stesimbrotus  relates. 

4  Now,  whether  by  accomplishing  this  he  did  injury 
to  the  integrity  and  purity  of  public  life  or  not,  let 
the  philosopher  rather  investigate.  But  that  the  sal- 
vation which  the  Hellenes  achieved  at  that  time  came 
from  the  sea,  and  that  it  was  those  very  triremes 


CHARACTER  AND  POWER  79 

which  restored  again  the  fallen  city  of  Athens,  Xerxes 
himself  bore  witness,  not  to  speak  of  other  proofs. 
For  though  his  infantry  remained  intact,  he  took  to 
flight  after  the  defeat  of  his  ships,  because  he  thought 
he  was  not  a  match  for  the  Hellenes,  and  he  left 
Mardonius  behind,  as  it  seems  to  me,  rather  to 
obstruct  their  pursuit  than  to  subdue  them. 

V.    Some   say   that   Themistocles  was   an    eager 
money-maker  because  of  his  liberality;  for  since  he 
was    fond    of    entertaining,    and    lavished  Anecdoteg 
money  splendidly  on  his  guests,  he  required   illustrative 
a  generous  budget.      Others,   on   the   con-  acter  and 
trary,   denounce   his   great   stinginess  and  ] 
parsimony,  claiming  that  he  used  to  sell  the  very  food 
sent  in  to  him  as  a  gift. 

When  Philides  the  horse-breeder  was  asked  by  him 
for  a  colt  and  would  n't  give  it,  Themistocles  threat- 
ened speedily  to  make  his  house  a  wooden  horse; 
thereby  darkly  intimating  that  he  would  stir  up  ac- 
cusations against  him  in  his  own  family,  and  lawsuits 
between  the  man  and  those  of  his  own  household. 
/  In  his  ambition  he  surpassed  all  men.  For  instance,  2 
while  he  was  still  young  and  obscure,  he  prevailed 
/  upon  Epicles  of  Hermione,  a  harpist  who  was  eagerly 
sought  after  by  the  Athenians,  to  practise  at  his 
house,  because  he  was  ambitious  that  many  should 
seek  out  his  dwelling  and  come  often  to  see  him. 

Again,  on  going  to   Olympia,  he   tried   to   rivals 
Cimon  in  his  banquets  and  booths  and  other  brilliant 
appointments,  so   that   he   displeased  the   Hellenes, 
i    For  Cimon  was  young  and  of  a  great  house,  and  they 


80  THEMISTOCLES 

thought  they  must  allow  him  in  such  extravagances ; 
but  Themistocles  had  not  yet  become  famous,  and 
was  thought  to  be  seeking  to  elevate  himself  unduly 
without  adequate  means,  and  so  got  the  credit  of 
ostentation. 

4  And  still  again,  as  Choregus,  or  theatrical  manager, 
he  won  a  victory  with  tragedies,  although  even  at 
that  early  time  this  contest  was  conducted  with  great 
eagerness  and  ambition,  and  set  up  a  tablet  com- 
memorating his  victory  with  the  following  inscrip- 
tion :  "  Themistocles  the  Phrearrhian  was  Choregus ; 
Phrynichus  was  Poet;  Adeimantus  was  Archon." 

However,  he  was  on  good  terms  with  the  common 
folk,  partly  because  he  could  call  off-hand  the  name 
of  every  citizen,  and  partly  because  he  rendered  the 
service  of  a  safe  and  impartial  arbitrator  in  cases 
of  private  obligation  and  settlement  out  of  court; 
and  so  he  once  said  to  Simonides  of  Ceos,  who  had 
made  an  improper  request  from  him  when  he  was 
magistrate :  "  You  would  not  be  a  good  poet  if  you 
should  sing  contrary  to  the  measure ;  nor  I  a  clever 
magistrate  if  I  should  show  favor  contrary  to  the 
law.'* 

6  And  once  again  he  banteringly  said  to  Simonides 
that  it  was  nonsense  for  him  to  abuse  the  Corinthians, 
who  dwelt  hi  a  great  and  fair  city,  while  he  had 
portrait  figures  made  of  himself,  who  was  of  such  an 
ugly  countenance. 

And  so  he  grew  in  power,  and  pleased  the  common 
folk,  and  finally  headed  a  successful  faction  and  got 
Aristides  removed  by  ostracism. 


ATTITUDE  TOWARD  PERSIA  81 

VI.  At  last,  when  the  Mede  was  descending  upon 
Hellas  and  the  Athenians  were  deliberating  who 
should  be  their  general,  all  the  rest,  they  His  conduct 
say,  voluntarily  renounced  their  claims  to  approach  of 
the  generalship,  so  panic-stricken  were  they  the  Persians, 
at  the  danger ;  but  Epicydes,  the  son  of  Euphemides, 
a  popular  leader  who  was  powerful  in  speech  but 
effeminate  in  spirit  and  susceptible  to  bribes,  set  out 
to  get  the  office,  and  was  likely  to  prevail  in  the 
election  ;  so  Themistocles,  fearing  lest  matters  should 
go  to  utter  ruin  hi  case  the  leadership  fell  to  such 
a  man,  bribed  and  bought  off  the  ambition  of 
Epicydes. 

Praise  is  given  his  treatment  of  the  linguist  in  the  2 
company  of  those  who  were  sent  by  the  King  to 
demand  earth  and  water  as  tokens  of  submission : 
this  interpreter  he  caused  to  be  arrested,  and  had 
him  put  to  death  by  special  decree,  because  he  dared 
to  prostitute  the  speech  of  Hellas  to  barbarian 
stipulations. 

Also  to  his  treatment  of  Arthmius  of  Zeleia:  on  3 
motion  of  Themistocles  this  man  was  entered  on  the 
list  of  the  proscribed,  with  his  children  and  his  family, 
because  he  brought  the  gold  of  the  Medes  and  offered 
it  to  the  Hellenes. 

But  the  greatest  of  all  his  achievements  was  his  4 
putting  a  stop  to  Hellenic  wars,  and  reconciling 
Hellenic  cities  with  one  another,  persuading  them 
to  postpone  their  mutual  hatreds  because  of  the 
foreign  war..  To  which  end,  they  say,  Cheileos  the 
Arcadian  most  seconded  his  efforts. 


82  THEMISTOCLES 

VII.    On  assuming  the  command,  he  straightway 
went  to  work  to  embark  the  citizens  on  their  tri- 
remes, and  tried  to  persuade  them  to  leave 
desatSt°~     tne^r  c*tv  behind  them  and  go  as  far  as 
Tempe ;  and  possible  away  f  rom  Hellas  to  meet  the  Bar- 

at  Artemi- 

sium  before  barian  by  sea.  But  many  opposed  this 
plan,  and  so  he  led  forth  a  large  army  to 
the  vale  of  Tempe,  along  with  the  Lacedaemonians, 
in  order  to  make  a  stand  there  in  defence  of  Thessaly, 
which  was  not  yet  at  that  time  supposed  to  be  medis- 
ing.  But  soon  the  army  came  back  from  this  posi- 
tion without  accomplishing  anything,  the  Thessalians 
went  over  to  the  side  of  the  King,  and  everything 
was  medising  as  far  as  Boeotia,  so  that  at  last  the 
Athenians  were  more  kindly  disposed  to  the  naval 
policy  of  Themistocles,  and  he  was  sent  with  a  fleet 
to  Artemisium,  to  watch  the  narrows. 
2  It  was  at  this  place  that  the  Hellenes  urged  Eury- 
biades  and  the  Lacedaemonians  to  take  the  lead,  but 
the  Athenians,  since  in  the  number  of  their  ships 
they  surpassed  all  the  rest  put  together,  disdained  to 
follow  others,  —  a  peril  which  Themistocles  at  once 
comprehended.  He  surrendered  his  own  command  to 
Eurybiades,  and  tried  to  mollify  the  Athenians  with 
the  promise  that  if  they  would  show  themselves  brave 
men  in  the  war,  he  would  induce  the  Hellenes  to  yield 
a  willing  obedience  to  them  thereafter.  Wherefore  he 
is  thought  to  have  been  the  man  most  instrumental  in 
achieving  the  salvation  of  Hellas,  and  foremost  in  lead- 
ing the  Athenians  up  to  the  high  repute  of  surpassing 
their  foes  in  valor  and  their  allies  in  magnanimity. 


ARTEMISIUM  83 

Now  Eurybiades,  on  the  arrival  of  the  barbarians 
armament  at  Aphetae,  was  terrified  at  the  number  of 
ships  that  faced  him,  and,  learning  that  two  hundred 
ships  more  were  sailing  around  above  Sciathus  to  cut 
off  his  retreat,  desired  to  proceed  by  the  shortest  route 
down  into  Hellas,  to  get  into  touch  with  Pelopon- 
nesus and  encompass  his  fleet  with  his  infantry  forces 
there,  because  he  thought  the  power  of  the  King 
altogether  invincible  by  sea.  Therefore  the  Euboeans, 
fearing  lest  the  Hellenes  abandon  them  to  their  fate, 
held  secret  conference  with  Themistocles,  and  sent 
Pelagon  to  him  with  large  sums  of  money.  This 
money  he  took,  as  Herodotus  relates,  and  gave  to 
Eurybiades. 

Meeting  with  most  opposition  among  his  fellow- 4 
citizens  from  Architeles,  who  was  captain  on  the 
sacred  state-galley,  and  who,  because  he  had  no 
money  to  pay  the  wages  of  his  sailors,  was  eager  to 
sail  off  home,  Themistocles  incited  his  crew  all  the 
more  against  him,  so  that  they  made  a  rush  upon 
him  and  snatched  away  his  dinner.  Then,  while 
Architeles  was  feeling  dejected  and  indignant  over 
this,  Themistocles  sent  him  a  dinner  of  bread  and 
meat  in  a  box  at  the  bottom  of  which  he  had  put  a 
talent  of  silver,  and  bade  him  dine  without  delay, 
and  on  the  morrow  satisfy  his  crew ;  otherwise  he 
said  he  would  denounce  him  publicly  as  the  receiver 
of  money  from  the  enemy.  At  any  rate,  such  is  the 
story  of  Phanias  the  Lesbian. 

VIII.   The  battles  which  were  fought  at  that  time 
with   the   ships  of   the  Barbarians  in   the   narrows 


84  THEMISTOCLES 

were  not  decisive  of  the  main  issue,  it  is  true,  but 
they  were  of  the  greatest  service  to  the  Hellenes  in 
The  sear  giymg  them  experience,  since  they  were 
fights  off  thus  taught  by  actual  achievements  in  the 

Artemi- 

8ium ;  their  f ace  of  danger  that  neither  multitudes  of 
sons;  their  ships  nor  brilliantly  decorated  figure-heads 
monuments.  nor  boastful  shoutg  or  barbarous  battle- 

hymns  have  any  terror  for  men  who  know  how  to 
come  to  close  quarters  and  dare  to  fight  there ;  but 
that  they  must  despise  all  such  things,  rush  upon  the 
very  persons  of  their  foes,  grapple  with  them,  and 
fight  it  out  to  the  bitter  end. 

i  Of  this  Pindar  seems  to  have  been  well  aware 
when  he  said  of  the  battle  of  Artemisium : 

"  Where  Athenians'  valiant  sons  set  in  radiance  eternal 
Liberty's  corner-stone." 

For  verily  the  foundation  of  victory  is  courage. 

Artemisium  is  a  part  of  Euboea  above  Hestiaea,  —  a 
sea-beach  stretching  away  to  the  north,  —  and  just 
about  opposite  to  it  lies  Olizon,  in  the  territory 
once  subject  to  Philoctetes.  It  has  a  small  temple 
of  Artemis  surnamed  Prosecea,  which  is  surrounded 
by  trees  and  enclosed  by  upright  slabs  of  white  mar- 
ble. This  stone,  when  you  rub  it  with  your  hand, 
gives  off  the  color  and  the  odor  of  saffron. 
3  On  one  of  these  slabs  the  following  elegy  was 
inscribed : 

"  Nations  of  all  sorts  of  men  from  Asia's  boundaries  coming, 

Sons  of  the  Athenians  once,  here  on  this  arm  of  the  sea, 
Whelmed  in  a  battle  of  ships,  and  the  host  of  the  Medes  was 

destroyed ; 
These  are  the  tokens  thereof,  built  for  the  Maid  Artemis." 


APPEAL  TO  THE  IONIANS  85 

And  a  place  is  pointed  out  on  the  shore,  with  sea 
sand  all  about  it,  which  supplies  from  its  depths  a 
dark  ashen  powder,  apparently  the  product  of  fire, 
and  here  they  are  thought  to  have  burned  their 
wrecks  and  dead  bodies. 

IX.  However,  when  they  learned  by  messenger 
from  Thermopylae  to  Artemisium  that  Leonidas  was 
slain  and  that  Xerxes  was  master  of  the  Retreat  of 

the  Greeks  ; 

pass,  they  withdrew  further  down  into  Hel-  cunning  de- 
las,  the  Athenians  bringing  up  the  extreme 


rear   because   of   their   valor,  and   greatly 

J    the  Ionian 

elated  by  their  achievements.  Greeks  from 

As  Themistocles  sailed  along  the  coasts,  despondency 


wherever  he  saw  places  at  which  the  enemy      nTa  the 


must   necessarily   put   in   for   shelter   and  abandon- 

.  .   .  ment  of 

supplies,  he  inscribed  conspicuous  writings  Attica. 
on  stones,  some  of  which  he  found  to  his  hand  there 
by  chance,  and  some  he  himself  caused  to  be  set  near 
the  inviting  anchorages  and  watering  places.  In 
these  writings  he  solemnly  enjoined  upon  the  lonians, 
if  it  were  possible,  to  come  over  to  the  side  of  the 
Hellenes,  who  were  their  ancestors,  and  who  were 
risking  all  in  behalf  of  their  freedom;  but  if  they 
could  not  do  this,  to  damage  the  barbarian  cause  in 
battle,  and  institute  confusion  among  them.  By  this 
means  he  hoped  either  to  fetch  the  lonians  over  to 
his  side,  or  to  confound  them  by  bringing  the  Bar- 
barians into  suspicion  of  them. 

Although   Xerxes   had   made  a  raid   up  through  2 
Doris  into  Phocis,  and  was  burning  the  cities  of  the 
Phocians,  the  Hellenes  gave  them  no  succor.      The 


86  THEMISTOCLES 

Athenians,  it  is  true,  begged  them  to  go  up  into 
Boeotia  against  the  enemy,  and  make  a  stand  there 
in  defence  of  Attica,  as  they  themselves  had  gone 
up  by  sea  to  Arteinisium  in  defence  of  others.  But 
no  one  listened  to  their  appeals.  All  clung  fast  to 
the  Peloponnesus,  and  were  eager  to  collect  all  the 
forces  inside  the  Isthmus,  and  went  to  running  a 
wall  through  the  Isthmus  from  sea  to  sea.  Then 
the  Athenians  were  seized  alike  with  rage  at  this 
betrayal,  and  with  sullen  dejection  at  their  utter  iso- 
s  lation.  Of  fighting  alone  with  an  army  of  so  many 
myriads  they  could  not  seriously  think  ;  and  as  for 
the  only  thing  left  them  to  do  in  their  emergency, 
namely,  to  give  up  their  city  and  stick  to  their  ships, 
most  of  them  were  distressed  at  the  thought,  saying 
that  they  neither  wanted  victory  nor  understood  what 
safety  could  mean  if  they  abandoned  to  the  enemy 
the  shrines  of  their  gods  and  the  sepulchres  of  their 
fathers. 

X.  Then  indeed  it  was  that  Themistocles,  despair- 
ing of  bringing  the  multitude  over  to  his  views  by 
Themisto-  any  human  reasonings,  set  up  machinery, 
upon  the  as  it  were,  to  introduce  the  gods  to  them, 
^abandon  &a  a  theatrical  manager  would  for  a  tragedy, 
their  city  an(j  brought  to  bear  upon  them  signs  from 

and  take  to 

their  ships,  heaven  and  oracles.  As  a  sign  from  heaven 
he  took  the  behavior  of  the  serpent,  which  is  held  to 
have  disappeared  about  that  time  from  the  sacred 
enclosure  on  the  Acropolis.  When  the  priests  found 
that  the  daily  offerings  made  to  it  were  left  whole 
and  untouched,  they  proclaimed  to  the  multitude,  — 


ABANDONMENT  OF  ATHENS  87 

Themistocles  putting  the  story  into  their  mouths,  — 
that  the  goddess  had  abandoned  her  city  and  was 
showing  them  their  way  to  the  sea. 

Moreover,  with  the  well  known  oracle  he  tried  2 
again  to  win  the  people  over  to  his  views,  saying  that 
its  "  wooden  wall "  meant  nothing  else  than  their 
fleet ;  and  that  the  god  in  this  oracle  called  Salamis 
"  divine,"  not  "  dreadful "  nor  "  cruel,"  for  the  very 
reason  that  the  island  would  sometime  give  its  name 
to  a  great  piece  of  good  fortune  for  the  Hellenes. 

At  last  his  opinion  prevailed,  and  so  he  introduced  a  3 
bill  providing  that  the  city  be  intrusted  for  safe 
keeping  "to  Athena  the  patroness  of  Athens,"  but 
that  all  the  men  of  military  age  embark  on  the 
triremes,  after  finding  for  their  children,  wives  and 
servants  such  safety  as  each  best  could.  On  the 
passage  of  this  bill,  most  of  the  Athenians  bestowed 
their  children  and  wives  in  Troezen,  where  the  Troe- 
zenians  very  eagerly  welcomed  them.  They  actually 
voted  to  support  them  at  the  public  cost,  allowing 
two  obols  daily  to  each  family,  and  to  permit  the 
boys  to  pluck  of  the  vintage  fruit  everywhere,  and 
besides  to  hire  teachers  for  them.  The  bill  was 
introduced  by  a  man  whose  name  was  Nicagoras. 

Since  the  Athenians  had  no  public  moneys  on  hand, 
according  to  Aristotle  it  was  the  senate  of  Areiopagus 
which  provided  each  of  the  men  who  embarked  with 
eight  drachmas,  and  so  was  most  instrumental  in 
manning  the  triremes ;  but  Clidemus  represents  this  4 
too  as  the  result  of  an  artifice  of  Themistocles.  He 
says  that  when  the  Athenians  were  going  down  to 


88  THEMISTOCLES 

the  Piraeus  and  abandoning  their  city,  the  Gorgon's 
head  was  lost  from  the  image  of  the  goddess ;  and 
then  Themistocles,  pretending  to  search  for  it,  and 
ransacking  everything,  thereby  discovered  an  abun- 
dance of  money  hidden  away  in  the  baggage,  which 
had  only  to  be  confiscated,  and  the  crews  of  the  ships 
were  well  provided  with  rations  and  wages. 
5  When  the  entire  city  was  thus  putting  out  to  sea, 
the  sight  provoked  pity  in  some,  and  in  others  aston- 
ishment at  the  hardihood  of  the  step ;  for  they  were 
sending  off  their  families  in  one  direction,  while  they 
themselves,  unmoved  by  the  lamentations  and  tears 
and  embraces  of  their  loved  ones,  were  crossing  over 
to  the  island  where  the  enemy  was  to  be  fought. 
Besides,  those  who  were  left  behind  on  account  of 
their  great  age  provoked  much  pity  too,  and  much 
affecting  fondness  was  shown  by  the  tame  domestic 
animals,  which  ran  along  with  yearning  cries  of  dis- 
tress by  the  side  of  their  masters  as  they  embarked. 

A  story  is  told  of  one  of  these,  the  dog  of  Xan- 
thippus  the  father  of  Pericles,  how  he  could  not  en- 
dure to  be  abandoned  by  his  master,  and  so  sprang 
into  the  sea,  swam  across  the  strait  by  the  side  of  his 
master's  trireme,  and  staggered  out  on  Salamis,  only 
to  faint  and  die  straightway.  They  say  that  the 
spot  which  is  pointed  out '  to  this  day  as  "  Dog's 
Mound"  is  his  tomb. 

XI.  These  were  surely  great  achievements  of 
Themistocles,  but  there  was  a  greater  still  to  come. 
When  he  saw  that  the  citizens  yearned  for  Aristides, 
and  feared  lest  out  of  wrath  he  join  himself  to  the 


MEMORABLE  SAYINGS  89 

Barbarian  and  so  subvert  the  cause  of  Hellas,  —  he 
had   been   ostracized   before   the  war   and   He  effects 
suffered   political   defeat   at  the  hands  of  Aristides; 
Themistocles,  —  he  introduced  a  bill  pro-   hisrnem- 

orable  say- 

viding  that  those  who  had  been  removed   ings  in  the 
for  a  time   be  permitted  to  return   home   war. 
and  devote  their  best  powers  to  the  service  of  Hellas 
along   with   the   other   citizens. 

When  Eurybiades,  who  had  the  command  of  the  2 
fleet  on  account  of  the  superior  claims  of  Sparta,  but 
who  was  faint-hearted  in  time  of  danger,  wished  to 
hoist  sail  and  make  for  the  Isthmus,  where  the  in- 
fantry also  of  the  Peloponnesians  had  been  assembled, 
it  was  Themistocles  who  spoke  against  it,  and  it  was 
then,  they  say,  that  those  memorable  sayings  of  his 
were  uttered. 

When  Eurybiades  said  to  him,  "  Themistocles,  at 
the  games  those  who  make  false  starts  get  a  caning," 
"  Yes,"  said  Themistocles,  "  but  those  who  lag  behind 
get  no  crown." 

And  when  Eurybiades  lifted  up  his  staff  as  though  3 
to  smite  him,  Themistocles  said :    "  Smite,  but  hear 
me."     Then  Eurybiades  was  struck  with  admiration 
at  his  calmness,  and  bade  him  speak,  and  Themistocles 
tried  to  bring  him  back  to  his  own  position. 

But  on  a  certain  one  saying  that  a  man  without  a 
city  had  no  business  to  advise  men  who  still  had 
ancestral  cities  to  abandon  and  betray  them,  Themis- 
tocles addressed  his  speech  with  emphasis  to  him,  say- 
ing :  "  It  is  true,  thou  wretch,  that  we  have  left  behind 
us  our  houses  and  our  city  walls,  not  deeming  it  meet 


90  THEMISTOCLES 

for  the  sake  of  such  soulless  things  to  be  in  subjection  ; 
but  we  still  have  a  city,  the  greatest  in  Hellas,  our  two 
4  hundred  triremes,  which  now  are  ready  to  aid  you  if 
you  choose  to  be  saved  by  them  ;  but  if  you  go  off 
and  betray  us  for  the  second  time,  straightway  many 
a  Hellene  will  learn  that  the  Athenians  have  won  for 
themselves  a  city  that  is  free  and  a  territory  that  is 
far  better  than  the  one  they  cast  aside."  When  The- 
mistocles  said  this,  Eurybiades  saw  its  drift,  and  was 
seized  with  fear  lest  the  Athenians  go  away  and 
abandon  him. 

And  again,  when  the  Eretrian  tried  to  argue  some- 
what against  him,  "  Aha  !  "  said  he,  "  what  argument 
can  ye  make  about  war,  who,  like  the  cuttle-fish,  have 
a  long  pouch  in  the  place  where  your  heart  ought 
to  be?" 

XII.  Some  tell  the  story  that  while  Themistocles 
was  thus  speaking  from  off  the  deck  of  his  ship,  an 
The  strata-  ow^  was  seen  *°  %  through  the  fleet  from 


gem  by        the  right,  and  alight  in  his  rigging  ;  where- 
fore  his  hearers  espoused  his  opinion  right 
t  eagei>ly  an(l  prepared  to  do  battle  with  their 

at  Salamis  ;     ships. 

co-operation       But  soon  the  enemy's  armament  beset  the 

of  Aristidcs. 


lerum,  so  as  to  hide  from  view  the  neighboring  shores  ; 
then  the  King  in  person  with  his  infantry  came  down 
to  the  sea,  so  that  he  could  be  seen  with  all  his  hosts  ; 
and  presently,  in  view  of  this  junction  of  hostile 
forces,  the  words  of  Themistocles  ebbed  out  of  the 
minds  of  the  Hellenes,  and  the  Peloponnesians  again 


STRATAGEM  AT  SALAMIS  91 

turned  their  eyes  wistfully  toward  the  Isthmus  and 
were  vexed  if  any  one  spoke  of  any  other  course ; 
nay,  they  actually  decided  to  withdraw  from  their 
position  in  the  night,  and  orders  for  the  voyage  were 
issued  to  the  pilots.  Such  was  the  crisis  when  The- 
mistocles,  distressed  to  think  that  the  Hellenes  should 
abandon  the  advantages  to  be  had  from  the  narrow- 
ness of  the  straits  where  they  lay  united,  and  break 
up  into  detachments  by  cities,  planned  and  concocted 
the  famous  Sicinnus-affair. 

This  Sicinnus  was  of  Persian  stock,  a  prisoners 
of  war,  but  devoted  to  Themistocles,  and  the  pseda- 
gogue  of  his  children.  This  man  was  sent  to  Xerxes 
secretly  with  orders  to  say :  "  Themistocles  the  Athe- 
nian general  elects  the  King's  cause,  and  is  the  first 
one  to  announce  to  him  that  the  Hellenes  are  trying 
to  slip  away,  and  urgently  bids  him  not  to  suffer 
them  to  escape,  but,  while  they  are  in  confusion  and 
separated  from  their  infantry,  to  set  upon  them  and 
destroy  their  naval  power."  Xerxes  received  this  as 
the  message  of  one  who  wished  him  well,  and  was  de- 
lighted, and  at  once  issued  positive  orders  to  the 
captains  of  his  ships  to  man  the  main  body  of  the 
fleet  at  their  leisure,  but  with  two  hundred  ships  to 
put  out  to  sea  at  once,  and  encompass  the  strait  round 
about  on  every  side,  including  the  islands  in  their  line 
of  blockade,  that  not  one  of  the  enemy  might  escape. 

While  this  was  going  on,  Aristides  the  son  of  Lysi-s 
machus,  who  was  the  first  to  perceive  it,  came  to  the 
tent  of  Themistocles,  who  was  no  friend  of  his,  nay, 
through  whom  he  had  even  been  ostracized,  as  I  have 


92  THEMISTOCLES 

said;  and  when  Themistocles  came  forth  from  the 
tent,  he  told  him  how  the  enemy  surrounded  them. 
Themistocles,  knowing  the  tried  nobility  of  the  man, 
and  filled  with  admiration  for  his  coming  at  that  time, 
told  him  all  about  the  Sicinnus-matter,  and  besought 
him  to  join  in  this  desperate  attempt  to  keep  the 
Hellenes  where  they  were,  —  admitting  that  he  had 
the  greater  influence  with  them,  —  in  order  that  they 
might  make  their  sea-fight  in  the  narrows.  Aristides, 
accordingly,  after  bestowing  praise  upon  Themisto- 
cles for  his  stratagem,  went  round  to  the  other  gen- 
erals and  trierarchs  inciting  them  on  to  battle. 

And  while  they  were  still  incredulous  in  spite  of 
all,  a  Tenian  trireme  appeared,  a  deserter  from  the 
enemy,  in  command  of  Pancetius,  and  told  how  the 
enemy  surrounded  them,  so  that  with  a  courage 
born  of  necessity  the  Hellenes  set  out  to  confront 
the  danger. 

XIII.  At  break  of  day  Xerxes  was  seated  on  a  high 
place,  and  overlooking  the  disposition  of  his  arma- 
Th  h  ment.  This  place  was,  according  to  Phano- 
of  Xerxes;  demus,  above  the  Heracleium,  where  only 
of  Themisto-  a  narrow  passage  separates  the  island  from 
Attica;  but  according  to  Acestodorus,  it 
was  in  the  border  land  of  Megara,  above  the  so-called 
"  Horns."  Here  a  gilded  throne  had  been  set  for  him 
at  his  command,  and  many  secretaries  stationed  near 
at  hand,  whose  task  it  was  to  make  due  record  of 
all  that  was  done  in  the  battle. 
2  But  Themistocles  was  sacrificing  alongside  the 
admiral's  trireme.  There  three  prisoners  of  war 


NUMBERS  OF  THE  FLEETS  93 

were  brought  to  him,  of  visage  most  beautiful  to 
behold,  conspicuously  adorned  with  raiment  and  with 
gold.  They  were  said  to  be  the  sons  of  Sandauce*,  the 
King's  sister,  and  Artayctus.  When  Euphrantides 
the  seer  caught  sight  of  them,  since  at  one  and  that 
same  moment  a  great  and  glaring  flame  shot  up  from 
the  sacrificial  victims  and  a  sneeze  gave  forth  its 
good  omen  on  the  right,  he  clasped  Themistocles  by 
the  hand  and  bade  him  consecrate  the  youths,  and 
sacrifice  them  all  to  Dionysus  Carnivorous,  with 
prayers  of  supplication;  for  on  this  wise  would  the 
Hellenes  have  a  saving  victory.  Themistocles  was 
terrified,  feeling  that  the  word  of  the  seer  was  mon- 
strous and  shocking;  but  the  multitude,  who,  as  is 
wont  to  be  the  case  in  great  struggles  and  severe 
crises,  looked  for  safety  rather  from  unreasonable 
than  from  reasonable  measures,  invoked  the  god  with 
one  voice,  dragged  the  prisoners  to  the  altar,  and 
compelled  the  fulfilment  of  the  sacrifice  as  the  seer 
commanded.  At  any  rate,  this  is  what  Phanias  the 
Lesbian  says,  and  he  was  a  philosopher,  and  well 
acquainted  with  historical  literature. 

XIV.  As  regards  the  number  of  the  barbarian 
ships,  JSschylus  the  poet,  in  his  tragedy  of  Numbers  o£ 
"The  Persians,"  as  though  from  personal  the  fleets; 

.   .  t  1  •  opening  of 

and  positive  knowledge,  says  this :  the  battle. 

"  But  Xerxes,  and  I  surely  know,  had  a  thousand  ships 
In  number  under  him ;  those  of  surpassing  speed 
Were  twice  five  score  beside  and  seven  ;  so  stands  the  count." 

Though  the  Attic  ships  were  only  one  hundred  and 
eighty  in  number,  still  each  had  eighteen  men  to 


94  THEMISTOCLES 

fight  upon  the  decks,  of  whom  four  were  archers  and 
the  rest  men-at-arms. 

2  Themistocles  is  thought  to  have  divined  the  best 
time  for  fighting  with  no  less  success  than  the  best 
place,  inasmuch  as  he  took  care  not  to  send  his  tri- 
remes bow  on  against  the  barbarian  vessels  until  the 
hour  of  the  day  had  come  which  always  brought  the 
breeze  fresh  from  the  sea  and  a  current  rolling 
through  the  strait.  This  breeze  wrought  no  harm 
to  the  Hellenic  ships,  since  they  lay  low  in  the  water 
and  were  rather  small;  but  for  the  barbarian  ships, 
with  their  towering  sterns  and  lofty  decks  and  slug- 
gish movements  in  getting  under  way,  it  was  fatal, 
since  it  smote  them  and  slewed  them  round  broad- 
side to  the  Hellenes,  who  set  upon  them  sharply, 
keeping  their  eyes  on  Themistocles,  because  they 
thought  he  saw  best  what  was  to  be  done,  and  be- 
cause confronting  him  was  the  admiral  of  Xerxes, 
Ariamenes,  with  a  great  ship,  and  just  as  if  he  were 
on  a  city-wall  he  kept  shooting  arrows  and  javelins, 
—  brave  man  that  he  was,  by  far  the  strongest 
and  justest  of  the  King's  brothers. 

s  It  was  against  him  that  Ameinias  the  Deceleian 
and  Socles  the  Paeanian  bore  down,  —  they  being 
together  on  one  ship,  —  and  as  the  two  ships  struck 
each  other  bow  on,  crashed  together,  and  hung  fast 
by  their  bronze  beaks,  he  tried  to  board  their  trireme ; 
but  they  faced  him,  smote  him  with  their  spears,  and 
hurled  him  into  the  sea.  His  body,  as  it  drifted 
about  with  other  wreckage,  was  recognized  by  Arte- 
misia, and  she  had  it  carried  to  Xerxes. 


VICTORY  OF  SALAMIS  95 

XV.  At  this  stage  of  the  struggle  they  say  that  a 
great  light  flamed  out  from  Eleusis,  and  an  echoing 
cry  filled  the  Thriasian  plain  down  to  the   Divine  por- 
sea,  as  of  multitudes  of  men  together  con-  tor^o/the 
ducting  the  mystic  lacchus  in  procession.   Greeks. 
Then  from  the  shouting  throng  a  cloud  seemed  to 
lift  itself  slowly  from  the  earth,  pass  out  seawards, 
and  settle  down  upon  the  triremes. 

Others  fancied  they  saw  apparitions  and  shapes  of 
armed  men  from  ^Egina  with  their  hands  stretched 
out  to  protect  the  Hellenic  triremes.  These,  they 
conjectured,  were  the  ^Eacidse,  who  had  been  prayer- 
fully invoked  before  the  battle  to  come  to  their  aid. 

Now  the  first  man  to  capture  an  enemy's  ship  was  2 
Lycomedes,  an  Athenian  captain,  who  cut  off  its 
figure-head  and  dedicated  it  to  Apollo  Daphnephoros 
at  Phlya.  Then  the  rest,  put  on  an  equality  in 
numbers  with  their  foes,  because  the  Barbarians  had 
to  attack  them  by  detachments  in  the  narrow  strait 
and  so  ran  foul  of  one  another,  routed  them,  though 
they  resisted  till  the  evening  drew  on,  and  thus 
"bore  away,"  as  Simonides  says,  "that  fair  and 
notorious  victory,  than  which  no  more  brilliant  ex- 
ploit was  ever  performed  upon  the  sea,  either  by 
Hellenes  or  Barbarians,  through  the  manly  valor  and 
common  ardor  of  all  who  fought  their  ships,  but 
through  the  clever  judgment  of  Themistocles." 

XVI.  After  the  sea-fight,  Xerxes,  still  furious  at 
his   failure,  undertook  to  carry  moles  out  into   the 
sea  on  which  he  could  lead  his  infantry  across  to 
Salamis  against  the   Hellenes,  damming  up  the  in- 


96  THEMISTOCLES 

tervening  strait.  But  Themistocles,  merely  by  way 
of  sounding  Aristides,  proposed,  as  though  he  were 
His  strata-  m  earnest,  to  sail  with  the  fleet  to  the 
gem  for  Hellespont  and  break  the  span  of  boats 

securing 

the  retreat     there,  "  in  order,"  said  he,  "  that  we  may 

of  Xerxes  .       .       ._  „  .       , 

after  Sal-  capture  Asia  in  Europe.  Aristides,  how- 
ever, was  displeased  with  the  scheme  and 
said  :  "  Now  indeed  the  Barbarian  with  whom  we  have 
fought  consults  his  ease  and  pleasure,  but  should  we 
shut  up  in  Hellas  and  bring  under  fearful  compul- 
sion a  man  who  is  lord  of  such  vast  forces,  he  will 

8  no  longer  sit  under  a  golden  parasol  to  view  the  spec- 
tacle of  the  battle  at  his  ease,  but  he  will  dare  all 
things,  and,  superintending  everything  in  person,  be- 
cause of  his  peril,  will  rectify  his  previous  remissness 
and  take  better  counsel  for  the  highest  issues  thus  at 
stake.  We  must  not,  then,"  said  he,  "  tear  down  the 
bridge  that  is  already  there,  Themistocles,  nay  rather 
we  must  build  another  alongside  it,  if  that  were  pos- 
sible, and  cast  the  fellow  out  of  Europe  in  a  hurry." 
"  Well,  then,"  said  Themistocles,  "  if  that  is  what  is 
thought  for  the  best,  it  is  high  time  for  us  all  to  be 
studying  and  inventing  a  way  to  get  him  out  of  Hellas 
by  the  speediest  route." 

As  soon  as  this  policy  had  been  adopted,  he  sent  a 
certain  royal  eunuch  whom  he  discovered  among  the 
prisoners  of  war,  by  name  Arnaces,  with  orders  to 
tell  the  King  that  the  Hellenes  had  decided,  since 
their  fleet  now  controlled  the  sea,  to  sail  up  into  the 
Hellespont,  where  the  shores  were  spanned,  and 

s destroy  the  bridge;   but  that  Themistocles,  out  of 


PUBLIC  HONORS  AFTER  SALAMIS  97 

regard  for  the  King,  urged  him  to  hasten  into  home 
waters  and  fetch  his  forces  across ;  he  himself,  he 
said,  would  cause  the  allies  all  sorts  of  delays  and 
postponements  in  their  pursuit.  No  sooner  did  the 
Barbarian  hear  this  than  he  was  seized  with  exceed- 
ing fear  and  speedily  began  his  retreat.  This  thought- 
ful prudence  on  the  part  of  Themistocles  and  Aristides 
was  afterwards  justified  by  the  campaign  with  Mar- 
donius,  since,  although  they  fought  at  Plataea  with 
the  merest  fraction  of  the  armies  of  Xerxes,  they  yet 
staked  their  all  upon  the  issue. 

XVII.  Among  the  cities,  now,  Herodotus  says 
that  ^Egina  bore  away  the  prize  of  valor ;  but  among 
individuals,  all  virtually  awarded  the  first  Publlc  hon 
place  to  Themistocles.  though  their  envy  ors  Paid  to 

,        ,  .       ,.          ,        Themisto- 

made  them  unwilling  to  do  this  directly,   cies  after 
For  when  the   generals  withdrew   to  the   Salamis> 
Isthmus  and  solemnly  voted  on  this  question,  tak- 
ing their  ballots  from  the  very  altar  of  the  god  there, 
each  one  declared  for  himself  as  first  in  valor,  but 
for  Themistocles  as  second  after  himself. 

Then  the  Lacedaemonians  brought  him  down  to  2 
Sparta,  and  while  they  gave  Eurybiades  the  prize  for 
valor,  to  him  they  gave  one  for  wisdom, —  a  crown 
of  olive  in  each  case,  —  and  they  presented  him  with 
the  best  chariot  there  was  in  the  city,  and  sent  three 
hundred  picked  youth  along  with  him  to  serve  as 
his  escort  to  the  boundary. 

And  it  is  said  that  when  the  next  Olympic  festival  a 
was  celebrated,  and  Themistocles  entered  the  stadium, 
the  audience  neglected  the  contestants  all  day  long 


98  THEMISTOCLES 

to  gaze  on  him,  and  pointed  him  out  with  admiring 
applause  to  visiting  strangers,  so  that  he  too  was 
delighted,  and  confessed  to  his  friends  that  he  was 
now  reaping  in  full  measure  the  harvest  of  his  toils 
in  behalf  of  Hellas. 

XVIII.  And  indeed  he  was  by  nature  very  fond 
of  honor,  if  we  may  judge  from  his  memorable  say- 
His  memor-  ™&s  an(*  Doings.  When,  for  example,  the 


able  sayings  city  had  chosen  him  to  be  admiral,  he  would 

and  doings. 

not  perform  a  bit  of  public  or  private  busi- 
ness at  its  proper  time,  but  would  postpone  every 
current  duty  to  the  day  on  which  he  was  to  set 
sail,  in  order  that  then,  because  he  did  many 
things  all  at  once  and  had  meetings  with  all  sorts 
of  men,  he  might  be  thought  to  be  some  great  per- 
sonage and  very  powerful. 

Surveying  once  the  dead  bodies  of  the  Barbarians 
which  had  been  cast  up  along  the  sea,  he  saw  that 
they  were  decked  with  golden  bracelets  and  collars, 
and  yet  passed  on  by  them  himself,  but  to  a  friend 
who  followed  he  pointed  them  out  and  said  :  "  Help 
thyself,  thou  art  not  Themistocles." 
2  Again,  to  one  who  had  once  been  a  beauty,  Anti- 
phates,  and  who  had  at  that  time  treated  him  dis- 
dainfully, but  afterwards  courted  him  because  of  the 
reputation  he  had  got,  "  Young  man,"  said  he,  "  't  is 
late,  't  is  true,  but  both  of  us  have  come  to  our 
senses." 

Also  he  used  to  say  of  the  Athenians  that  they 
did  not  really  honor  and  admire  him  for  himself,  but 
treated  him  for  all  the  world  like  a  plane-tree,  run- 


MEMORABLE   SAYINGS  99 

ning  under  his  branches  for  shelter  when  it  stormed, 
but  when  they  had  fair  weather  all  about  them, 
plucking  and  docking  him. 

And  when  he  was  told  by  the  Seriphian  that  its 
was  not  due  to  himself  that  he  had  got  reputation, 
but  to  his  city,  "True,"  said  he,  "but  neither  should 
I,  had  I  been  a  Seriphian,  have  achieved  reputation, 
nor  wouldst  thou,  hadst  thou  been  an  Athenian." 

Again,  when  one  of  his  fellow-generals  who  thought 
he  had  done  some  vast  service  to  the  city,  grew  bold 
with  Themistocles,  and  went  to  comparing  his  own 
services  with  his,  "  With  the  Festival-day,"  said  he, 
"  the  Day  After  once  began  a  contention,  saying : 
'Thou  art  full  of  occupations  and  wearisome,  but 
when  I  come,  all  enjoy  at  their  leisure  what  has  been 
richly  provided  beforehand ' ;  to  which  the  Festival- 
day  replied :  '  True,  but  had  I  not  come  first,  thou 
hadst  not  come  at  all.'  So  now,"  said  he,  "had  I 
not  come  at  that  day  of  Salamis,  where  wouldst  thou 
and  thy  colleagues  be  now?" 

Of  his  son,  who  lorded  it  over  his  mother,  and* 
through  her  over  himself,  he  said,  jestingly,  that  the 
boy  was  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  Hellenes ;  for 
the  Hellenes  were  commanded  by  the  Athenians,  the 
Athenians  by  himself,  himself  by  the  boy's  mother, 
and  the  mother  by  her  boy. 

Again,  with  the  desire  to  be  rather  different  from 
everybody  else,  when  he  offered  a  certain  estate  for 
sale,  he  bade  proclamation  to  be  made  that  it  had  an 
excellent  neighbor  into  the  bargain. 

Of  two  suitors  for  his  daughter's  hand  he  chose  the 


100  THEMISTOCLES 

likely  man  in  preference  to  the  rich  man,  saying  that 
he  wanted  a  man  without  money  rather  than  money 
without  a  man. 

Such  were  his  striking  sayings. 

XIX.   After  the  great  achievements  now  described, 

he  straightway  undertook  to  rebuild  and  fortify  the 

city, — as  Theopompus  relates,  by  bribing  the 

He  rebuilds  *  7 

the  walls  Spartan  Ephors  not  to  oppose  the  project ; 
h  spite  of  but  as  the  majority  say,  by  hoodwinking 
Spartan  them.  He  came  with  this  object  to  Sparta, 

protest,  and 

fortifies  the  ostensibly  on  an  embassy,  and  when  the 
Spartans  brought  up  the  charge  that  the 
Athenians  were  fortifying  their  city,  and  Polyarchus 
was  sent  expressly  from  ^Egina  with  the  same  accu- 
sation, he  denied  that  it  was  so,  and  bade  them  send 
men  to  Athens  to  see  for  themselves,  not  only  be- 
cause this  delay  would  secure  time  for  the  building 
of  the  wall,  but  also  because  he  wished  the  Athenians 
to  hold  these  envoys  as  hostages  for  his  own  person. 
And  this  was  what  actually  happened.  When  the 
LacedoBmonians  found  out  the  truth  they  did  him  no 
harm,  but  concealed  their  displeasure  and  sent  him 
away. 

2  After  this  he  equipped  the  Piraeus,  because  he 
had  noticed  the  favorable  shape  of  its  harbors,  and 
wished  to  attach  the  whole  city  to  the  sea ;  thus  in 
a  certain  manner  counteracting  the  policies  of  the 
ancient  Athenian  kings.  For  they,  as  it  is  said,  in 
their  efforts  to  draw  the  citizens  away  from  the  sea 
and  accustom  them  to  live  not  by  navigation  but  by 
agriculture,  disseminated  the  story  about  Athena, 


AN   INCENDIARY  STRATAGEM  101 

how  when  Poseidon  was  contending  with  her  for 
possession  of  the  country,  she  displayed  the  sacred 
olive-tree  of  the  Acropolis  to  the  judges  and  so  won 
the  day. 

But  Themistocles  did  not,  as  Aristophanes  the  3 
comic  poet  says,  "  knead  the  Piraeus  on  to  the  city," 
nay,  he  suspended  the  city  from  the  Piraeus,  and  the 
land  from  the  sea.  And  so  it  was  that  he  increased 
the  privileges  of  the  common  people  as  against  the 
nobles,  and  filled  them  with  boldness,  since  the  con- 
trolling power  came  now  into  the  hands  of  skippers 
and  boatswains  and  pilots.  Therefore  it  was,  too, 
that  the  bema  in  Pnyx,  which  had  stood  so  as  to 
look  off  toward  the  sea,  was  afterwards  turned  by 
the  thirty  tyrants  so  as  to  look  in-land,  because  they 
thought  maritime  empire  was  the  mother  of  democ- 
racy, and  that  oligarchy  was  less  distasteful  to  tillers 
of  the  soil. 

XX.  But  Themistocles  cherished  yet  greater  de- 
signs even  for  securing  the  naval  supremacy.  When 
the  squadron  of  the  Hellenes,  after  the  „.  . 

His  incen- 

departure  of   Xerxes,   had  put   in   at  Pa-  diary  "strat- 

.  .  agem ; "  his 

gasse  and  was  wmtering  there,  he  made  a  national 
harangue  before   the  Athenians,  in  which  po 
he  said  that  he  had  a  certain  scheme  in  mind  which 
would  be  useful  and  salutary  for  them,  but   which 
could  not  be  broached  in  public.     So  the  Athenians 
bade  him  impart   it   to  Aristides   alone,  and  if  he 
should   approve    of    it,   to    put    it   into    execution. 
Themistocles  accordingly  told  Aristides  that  he  pur- 
posed to  burn  the  fleet  of  the  Hellenes  where  it  lay ; 


102  THEMISTOCLES 

but  Aristides  addressed  the  people,  and  said  of  the 
scheme  which  Themistocles  purposed  to  carry  out, 
that  none  could  be  either  more  advantageous  or  more 
iniquitous.  The  Athenians  therefore  ordered  Themis- 
tocles to  give  it  up. 

2  At  the  Amphictyonic  or  Holy  Alliance  conven- 
tions, the  Lacedaemonians  introduced  motions  that 
all  cities  be  excluded  from  the  Alliance  which  had 
not  taken  part  in  fighting  against  the  Mede.  So  The- 
mistocles, fearing  lest,  if  they  should  succeed  in 
excluding  the  Thessalians  and  the  Argives  and  the 
Thebans  too  from  the  convention,  they  would  control 
the  votes  completely  and  carry  through  their  own 
wishes,  spoke  hi  behalf  of  the  protesting  cities,  and 
changed  the  sentiments  of  the  delegates  by  showing 
that  only  thirty-one  cities  had  taken  part  in  the  war, 
and  that  the  most  of  these  were  altogether  small ;  it 
would  be  intolerable  then  if  the  rest  of  Hellas  should 
be  excluded  and  the  convention  be  at  the  mercy  of 
the  two  or  three  largest  cities. 

It  was  for  this  reason  particularly  that  he  became 
obnoxious  to  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  they  therefore 
tried  to  advance  Cimon  in  public  favor,  making  him 
the  political  rival  of  Themistocles. 

XXI.  He  made  himself  hateful  to  the  allies  also, 
by  sailing  round  to  the  islands  and  trying  to  exact 
His  extor-  money  from  them.  When,  for  instance,  he 
tions;Timo-  aeman(jed  money  of  the  Andrians,  Hero- 

creon  s  ven-  » 

omous  songs,  dotus  says  he  made  a  speech  to  them  and 
got  reply  as  follows:  he  said  he  came  escorting 
two  gods,  Persuasion  and  Compulsion ;  and  they  re- 


TIMOCREON'S  VENOMOUS   SONGS  103 

plied  that  they  already  had  two' great  gods,  Penury 
and  Powerlessness,  who  hindered  them  from  giving 
him  money. 

Timocreon,  the  lyric  poet  of  Rhodes,  assailed  The- 2 
mistocles  very  bitterly  in  a  song,  to  the  effect  that  for 
bribes  he  had  secured  the  restoration  of  other  exiles, 
but  had  abandoned  him,  though  a  host  and  a  friend, 
and  all  for  money.     The  song  runs  thus : 

"  Come,  if  thou  praisest  Pausanias,  or  thou  Xanthippus, 

Or  thou  Leutichidas,  then  I  shall  praise  Aristides, 
The  one  best  man  of  all 

To  come  from  sacred  Athens ;  since  Leto  loathes  Themistocles, 

"  The  liar,  cheat,  and  traitor,  who,  though  Timocreon  was  his  host, 

By  knavish  moneys  was  induced  not  to  bring  him  back 
Into  his  native  lalysos, 

But  took  three  talents  of  silver  and  went  cruising  off,  —  to 
perdition ! 

"  Restoring  some  exiles  unjustly,  chasing  some  away,  and  slaying 

some, 
Gorged  with  moneys  ;  yet  at  the  Isthmus  he  played  ridiculous 

host  with  the  stale  meats  set  before  his  guests; 
Who  ate  thereof  and  prayed  heaven  'no  happy  return  of  the  day 
for  Themistocles!'" 

Much  more  wanton  and  extravagant  was  the  rail-  3 
lery  which  Timocreon  indulged  in  against  Themisto- 
cles after  the  latter's  own  exile  and  condemnation. 
Then  he  composed  the  song  beginning: 

"  0  Muse,  grant  that  this  song 

Be  famed  throughout  all  Hellas, 
As  it  is  meet  and  just." 

It  is  said  that  Timocreon  was  sent  into  exile  on  a 
charge  of  medising,  and  that  Themistocles  concurred 
in  the  vote  of  condemnation.  Accordingly,  when 


104  THEMISTOCLES 

Themistocles  also  was   accused   of  medising,  Timo- 
creon  composed  these  lines  upon  him : 

"  Not  Timocreon  alone,  then,  made  compacts  with  the  Modes, 
But  there  are  other  wretches  too;  not  I  alone  am  brushless, 
There  are  other  foxes  too." 

XXII.  And  at  last,  when  even  his  fellow-citizens 
were  led  by  their  jealousy  of  his  greatness  to  welcome 
His  growing  such  slanders  against  him,  he  was  forced  to 
ostri  a^U(^e  *°  n^  own  achievements  when  he 
addressed  the  assembly,  till  he  became  tire- 
some thereby,  and  he  once  said  to  the  malcontents : 
"Why  are  ye  vexed  that  the  same  men  should  often 
benefit  you  ?  " 

He  offended  the  multitude  also  by  building  the 
temple  of  Artemis,  whom  he  surnamed  Aristoboule, 
or  Best  Counsellor,  intimating  thus  that  it  was  he 
who  had  given  the  best  counsel  to  the  city  and  to  the 
Hellenes.  This  temple  he  established  near  his  house 
in  Melite,  where  now  the  public  officers  cast  out  the 
bodies  of  those  who  have  been  put  to  death,  and  carry 
forth  the  garments  and  the  nooses  of  those  who  have 
2  despatched  themselves  by  hanging.  A  small  portrait 
statue  of  Themistocles  stood  in  this  temple  of  Aristo- 
boule  down  to  my  time,  from  which  he  appears  to 
have  been  a  man  not  only  of  heroic  spirit,  but  also 
of  heroic  presence. 

Well,  then,  they  visited  him  with  ostracism,  curtail- 
ing his  dignity  and  pre-eminence,  as  they  were  wont 
to  do  in  the  case  of  all  whom  they  thought  to  have 
oppressive  power,  and  to  be  incommensurate  with 
true  democratic  equality.  For  ostracism  was  not  a 


I 


W 

,-J 

o 

O 

H 


B 
H 


ACCUSATION  OF  HIGH  TREASON  105 

penalty,  but  a  way  of  expression  and  a  means  of   ;»-f 
alleviation  for  that  jealousy  which  delights  to  humble 
the  eminent,  breathing  out  its  malice  into  this  dis- 
franchisement. 

XXIII.  After  he  had  been  thus  banished  from  the 
city,  and  while  he  was  sojourning  at  Argos,  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  death  of  Pau-  whiieat 
sanias  gave  his  enemies  at  Athens  ground  ^eused'of S 
for  proceeding  against  him.  The  one  who  high  treason, 
actually  brought  in  the  indictment  against  him  for 
treason  was  Leobotes  the  son  of  Alcmeon,  of  the 
deme  Agraule,  but  the  Spartans  supported  him  in  the 
accusation.  Pausanias,  while  engaged  in  his  grand  2 
scheme  of  treachery,  at  first  kept  it  concealed  from 
Themistocles ;  but  when  he  saw  him  thus  banished 
from  his  state  and  in  great  bitterness  of  spirit,  he 
made  bold  to  invite  him  into  partnership  in  his  own 
undertakings,  showing  him  a  letter  he  had  received 
from  the  King,  and  inciting  him  against  the  Hellenes 
as  a  base  and  thankless  people.  Themistocles  re- 
jected the  solicitation  of  Pausanias,  and  utterly  re- 
fused the  proffered  partnership ;  and  yet  he  disclosed 
the  propositions  to  no  one,  nor  did  he  even  give 
information  of  the  treacherous  scheme,  because  he 
expected  either  that  Pausanias  would  give  it  up  of 
his  own  accord,  or  that  in  some  other  way  he  would 
be  found  out,  since  he  was  so  irrationally  grasping 
after  such  strange  and  desperate  objects. 

And  so  it  was  that,  when  Pausanias  had  been  puts 
to  death,  certain  letters  and  documents  regarding  these 
matters  were  discovered  which  cast  suspicion  on  The- 


106  THEMISTOCLES 

mistocles.  Both  the  Lacedaemonians  cried  him  down, 
and  his  envious  fellow-citizens  denounced  him,  though 
he  was  not  present  to  plead  his  cause,  but  defended 
himself  in  writing,  making  particular  use  of  earlier 
accusations  brought  against  him.  Since  he  was  once 
slanderously  accused  by  his  enemies  before  his  fellow- 
citizens,  —  so  he  wrote,  —  as  one  who  ever  sought  to 
rule,  but  had  no  natural  bent  nor  even  the  desire 
to  be  ruled,  he  could  never  have  sold  himself  with 
Hellas  to  Barbarians  and  foemen.  The  people, 
however,  were  overpersuaded  by  his  accusers,  and 
sent  men  with  orders  to  arrest  him  and  bring  him 
up  in  custody  to  stand  trial  before  the  Congress  of 
Hellenes. 

XXIV.   But  he  heard  of  this   hi  advance,   and 
crossed  over  to  gojcyra,  where  he  had  been  recog- 
nized as  public  benefactor  of  the  city.     For 

Flight  to  J 

Corcyra  he  had  served  as  arbiter  in  a  dispute  be- 
tween them  and  the  Corinthians,  and  set- 
tled the  quarrel  by  deciding  that  the  Corinthians 
should  pay  an  indemnity  of  twenty  talents,  and 
administer  Leucas  as  a  common  colony  of  both 
cities. 

2  Thence  he  fled  to  Epjrus,  and  being  pursued  by 
the  Athenians  and  Lacedaemonians,  he  threw  himself 
upon  grievous  and  desperate  chances  of  escape  by 
taking  refuge  with  Admetus,  who  was  king  of  the 
Molossians,  and  who,  since  he  had  once  asked  some 

"'^v,^ xx^* 

favor  of  the  Athenians  and  had  been  insultingly 
refused  it  by  Themistocles,  then  at  the  height  of  his 
political  influence,  was  angry  with  him  ever  after, 


SUPPLICATION  OF  ADMETUS  107 

and  made  it  plain  that  he  would  take  vengeance  on 
him  if  he  caught  him.  But  in  the  desperate  fortune 
of  that  time  Themistocles  was  more  afraid  of  kindred 
and  recent  jealousy  than  of  an  anger  that  was  of  long 
standing  and  royal,  and  promptly  cast  himself  upon 
the  king's  mercy,  making  himself  the  suppliant  of 
Admetus  in  a  way  quite  peculiar  and  extraordinary. 
That  is  to  say,  he  took  the  young  son  of  the  king  in 
his  arms  and  threw  himself  down  at  the  hearth ;  a 
form  of  supplication  which  the  Molossians  regarded 
as  most  sacred,  and  as  almost  the  only  one  that 
might  not  be  refused. 

Some,  it  is  true,  say  that  it  was  Phthia,  the  wife  3 
of  the  king,  who  suggested  this  form  of  supplication 
to  Themistocles,  and  that  she  seated  her  son  on  the 
hearth  with  him;  and  certain  others  that  Admetus 
himself,  in  order  that  he  might  give  a  religious  sanc- 
tion to  the  necessity  that  was  upon  him  of  not  sur- 
rendering the  man,  arranged  beforehand  and  solemnly 
rehearsed  with  him  the  supplication  scene. 

Thither  his  wife  and  children  were  privily  removed 
from  Athens  and  sent  to  him  by  Epicrates  of  the 
deme  Acharnce,  who,  for  this  deed,  was  afterwards 
convicted  by  Cimon  and  put  to  death,  as  Stesimbro- 
tus  relates.  Then,  some  how  or  other,  Stesimbrotus 
forgets  this,  or  makes  Themistocles  forget  it,  and  says 
he  sailed  to  Sicily  and  demanded  from  Hiero  the 
tyrant  the  hand  of  his  daughter  in  marriage,  promis- 
ing as  an  incentive  that  he  would  make  the  Hellenes 
subject  to  his  sway;  but  that  Hiero  repulsed  him, 
and  so  he  set  sail  for  Asia. 


108  THEMISTOCLES 

XXV.  But  it  is  not  likely  that  this  was  so.     For 
Theophrastus,  in  his  work  "  On  Royalty,"  tells  how, 
Escape  to      when  Hiero  sent  horses  to  compete  at  Olym- 
Asia-           pia,  and  set  up  a  sort  of  booth  there  with 
very  costly  decorations,  Themistocles  made  a  speech 
among  the  assembled  Hellenes,  urging  them  to  tear 
down  the  booth  of  the  tyrant  and  prevent  his  horses 
from  competing. 

2  Thucydides  says  that  he  made  his  way  across  the 
country  to  the  sea,  and  set  sail  from  Pydna,  no  one 
of  the  passengers  knowing  who  he  was  until,  when 
the  vessel  had  been  carried  by  a  storm  to  Naxos,  to 
which  the  Athenians  at  that  time  were  laying  siege, 
he  was  terrified,  and  disclosed  himself  to  the  master 
and  the  captain  of  the  ship,  and  partly  by  entreaties, 
partly  by  threats,  actually  declaring  that  he  would 
denounce  and  vilify  them  to  the  Athenians  as  hav- 
ing taken  him  on  board  at  the  start  in  no  ignorance 
but  under  bribes,  —  in  this  way  compelled  them  to 
sail  by  and  make  the  coast  of  Asia. 

3  Of  his  property,  much  was  secretly  abstracted  for 
him  by  his  friends  and  sent  across  the  sea  to  Asia ; 
but  the  sum  total  of  that  which  was  brought  to  light 
and  confiscated  amounted  to  one   hundred   talents, 
according  to   Theopompus,  —  Theophrastus   says  to 
eighty,  —  and  yet  Themistocles  did  not  possess  the 
worth  of  three  talents  .before  he  entered   political 
life. 

XXVI.  After  landing  at  C}'me,  and  learning  that 
many  people  on  the  coast  were  watching  to  seize 
him,   and   especially   Ergoteles   and   Pythodorus,  — 


JOURNEY  TO   THE  PERSIAN  COURT         109 

for  the  chase  was  a  lucrative  one  to  such  as  were 
fond   of   getting   gain  from  any  and   every  source, 
since  two  hundred  talents  had  been  publicly  The  hidi 
set  upon  his  head  by  the  King,  —  he  fled  to  at^gae.and 

the  journey 

^Egae,  a  little  ^Eolic  citadel,  where  no  one  to  the  Per- 
knew  him  except  his  host  Nicogenes,  the  8 
wealthiest  man  in  JSolia,  and  well  acquainted  with 
the  magnates  of  the  interior.     With  him  he  remained 
in  hiding  for  a  few  days. 

During  this  time,  after  the  dinner  which  followed  2 
a   certain   sacrifice,   Olbius,  the   psedagogue   of   the 
children  of   Nicogenes,  becoming  rapt  and  inspired, 
lifted  up  his  voice  and  cried  the  following  verse : 

"  Night  shall  speak,  and  night  instruct  thee,  night  shall  give  thee 
victory." 

And  in  the  night  that  followed,  Themistocles,  as  he 
lay  in  bed,  thought  he  saw  in  a  dream  that  a  serpent 
wound  itself  along  over  his  body  and  crept  up  to  his 
neck,  then  became  an  eagle,  as  soon  as  it  touched  his 
face,  enveloped  him  with  its  wings  and  lifted  him 
on  high  and  bore  him  a  long  distance,  when  there 
appeared  as  it  were  a  golden  herald's  wand,  on  which 
it  set  him  securely  down,  freed  from  helpless  terror 
and  distress. 

However  that  may  be,  he  was  sent  on  his  way  by  3 
Nicogenes,  who  devised  the  following  scheme  for  his 
safety.  Most  barbarous  nations,  and  the  Persians  in 
particular,  are  savage  and  harsh  in  their  jealous 
watchfulness  over  their  women.  Not  only  their 
wedded  wives,  but  also  their  boughten  slaves  and 
concubines  are  strictly  guarded,  so  that  they  are 


110  THEMISTOCLES 

seen  by  no  outsiders,  but  live  at  home  in  complete 
seclusion,  and  even  on  their  journeys  are  carried  in 
tents  closely  hung  round  about  with  curtains  and 
set  upon  four-wheeled  waggons.  Such  a  vehicle  was 
made  ready  for  Themistocles,  and  safely  ensconced  in 
this  he  made  his  journey,  while  his  attendants  replied 
in  every  case  to  those  who  met  them  with  enquiries, 
that  they  were  conducting  a  Hellenic  woman,  fair  but 
frail,  to  one  of  the  King's  courtiers. 

XX VI  I.  Now  Thucydides  and  Charon  of  Lamp- 
sacus  relate  that  Xerxes  was  dead,  and  that  it  was 
Requisites  his  son  Artaxerxes  with  whom  Themisto- 
d!en*ewTth  c^es  ka(^  his  interview;  but  Ephorus  and 
the  King.  Dinon  and  Clitarchus  and  Heracleides  and 
yet  more  besides  have  it  that  it  was  Xerxes  to 
whom  he  came.  With  the  chronological  data  Thu- 
cydides seems  to  me  more  in  accord,  although  these 
are  not  securely  established. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  Themistocles,  thus  at  the  thresh- 
old of  the  dreadful  ordeal,  had  audience  first  with 

*  ^1'^n.i .  — .  -*+^r  ^»«, ..  _~^-^^^ 

Artabanus  the^Chiliarch,  or  Grand  Vizier,  and  said 
"that  he  was  a  Hellene,  and  that  he  desired  to  have 
an  audience  with  the  King  on  matters  which  were 
of  the  highest  importance  and  for  which  the  mon- 
2  arch  entertained  the  liveliest  concern.  Whereupon 
the  Chiliarch  replied :  "  0  Stranger,  men's  customs 
differ ;  different  people  honor  different  practices  ;  but 
all  honor  the  exaltation  and  maintenance  of  their 
own  peculiar  ways.  Now  you  Hellenes  are  said  to 
admire  liberty  and  equality  above  all  things ;  but  in 
our  eyes,  among  many  fair  customs,  this  is  the  fairest 


AUDIENCE   WITH  THE   KING  111 

of  all,  to  honor  the  King,  and  to  pay  obeisance  to 
him  as  the  image  of  that  god  who  is  the  preserver 
of  all  things.  If,  then,  thou  approvest  our  practice 
and  wilt  pay  obeisance,  it  is  in  thy  power  to  behold 
and  address  the  King;  but  if  thou  art  otherwise 
minded,  it  will  be  needful  for  thee  to  employ  mes- 
sengers to  him  in  thy  stead,  for  it  is  not  a  custom  of 
this  country  that  the  King  give  ear  to  a  man  who 
has  not  paid  him  obeisance."  When  Themistocles 
heard  this,  he  said  to  him :  "  Nay,  but  I  am  come, 
Artabanus,  to  augment  the  King's  fame  and  power, 
and  I  will  not  only  myself  observe  your  customs, 
since  such  is  the  pleasure  of  the  god  who  exalts  the 
Persians,  but  I  will  induce  more  men  than  do  so  now 
to  pay  obeisance  to  the  King.  Therefore  let  this 
matter  by  no  means  stand  in  the  way  of  the  words 
I  wish  to  speak  to  him."  "  And  what  Hellene,"  said  3 
Artabanus,  "  shall  I  say  thou  art  who  hast  thus  come  ? 
Verily,  thou  dost  not  seem  to  be  a  man  of  ordinary 
understanding."  And  Themistocles  said :  "  This, 
Artabanus,  no  one  may  learn  before  the  King." 

So  indeed  Phanias  says,  and  Eratosthenes,  in  his 
book  "  On  Wealth,"  adds  the  statement  that  it  was 
through  a  woman  of  Eretria,  whom  the  Chiliarch 
had  to  wife,  that  Themistocles  obtained  interview 
and  conference  with  him. 

XXVIII.  That  may  or  may  not  be  so.  But  when 
he  was  led  into  the  presence  of  the  King  , 

0     The  audi- 

and  had  made  him  obeisance,  and  was  stand-  ence  with 
ing  in  silence,  the  King  ordered  the  inter- 
preter to  ask  him  who  he  was,  and,  on  the  interpre- 


112  THEMISTOCLES 

ter's  asking,  he  said :  "  I  who  thus  come  to  thee,  0 
King,  am  Themistocles  the  Athenian,  an  exile,  pur- 
sued by  the  Hellenes;  and  to  me  the  Persians  are 
indebted  for  many  ills,  but  for  more  blessings,  since 
I  hindered  the  pursuit  of  the  Hellenes,  at  a  time 
•when  Hellas  was  brought  into  safety,  and  the  salva- 
tion of  my  own  home  gave  me  an  opportunity  for 
showing  some  favor  also  to  you.  Now,  therefore,  I 
am  in  all  things  adjusted  to  my  present  calamities, 
and  I  come  prepared  to  receive  the  favor  of  one  who 
benevolently  offers  reconciliation,  or  to  deprecate  the 
anger  of  one  who  cherishes  the  remembrance  of  inju- 

sries.  But  do  thou  take  my  foes  to  witness  the  good 
I  wrought  the  Persians,  and  now  use  my  misfortunes 
for  the  display  of  thy  virtue  rather  than  for  the  satis- 
faction of  thine  anger.  For  it  is  a  suppliant  of  thine 
whom  thou  wilt  save,  but  an  enemy  of  the  Hellenes 
whom  thou  wilt  destroy."  After  these  words  The- 
mistocles spoke  of  divine  portents  in  his  favor,  enlarg- 
ing upon  the  vision  which  he  saw  at  the  house  of 
Nicogenes,  and  the  oracle  of  Dodonoean  Zeus,  how 
when  he  was  bidden  by  it  to  proceed  to  the  namesake 
of  the  god,  he  had  concluded  that  he  was  thereby  sent 
to  him,  since  both  were  actually  "Great  Kings,"  and 
were  so  addressed. 

3  On  hearing  this  the  Persian  made  no  direct  reply 
to  him,  although  struck  with  admiration  at  the  bold- 
ness of  his  spirit ;  but  in  converse  with  his  friends  it 
is  said  that  he  congratulated  himself  over  what  he 
called  the  greatest  good  fortune,  and  prayed  Arima- 
nius  ever  to  give  his  enemies  such  minds  as  to  drive 


SECOND   AUDIENCE  113 

their  best  men  away  from  them ;  and  then  sacrificed 
to  the  gods,  and  straightway  betook  himself  to  his 
cups  ;  and  in  the  night,  in  the  midst  of  his  slumbers,  / 
for  very  joy  called  out  thrice  :  "  I  have  Themistocles 
the  Athenian." 

XXIX.  At  daybreak  he  called  his  friends  to- 
gether and  had  Themistocles  to  be  introduced,  who 
expected  no  favorable  outcome,  because  he 
saw  that  the  guards  at  the  gates,  when 
they  learned  the  name  of  him  who  was 

ored  at  the 

going  in,  were  bitterly  disposed  and  spoke  Persian 
insultingly  to  him.  And  besides,  Rhox- 
anes  the  Chiliarch,  when  Themistocles  came  along 
opposite  him,  —  the  King  being  seated  and  the  rest 
hushed  in  silence,  —  said  in  an  angry  undertone : 
"  Thou  subtle  serpent  of  Hellas,  the  King's  good 
genius  hath  brought  thee  hither."  However,  when  he 
had  come  into  the  King's  presence,  and  had  once  more 
paid  him  obeisance,  the  King  welcomed  him  and  spake 
him  kindly,  and  said  he  now  owed  him  two  hundred 
talents,  for  since  he  had  delivered  himself  up  it  was 
only  just  that  he  himself  should  receive  the  reward 
proclaimed  for  his  captor.  Much  more  than  this  he 
promised  him,  and  bade  him  take  heart,  and  gave 
him  leave  to  say  whatever  he  wished  concerning  the 
affairs  of  Hellas,  with  all  frankness  of  speech. 

But  Themistocles  made  answer  that  the  speech  of  2 
man  was  like  embroidered  tapestries,  since  like  them 
this  too  had  to  be  extended  in  order  to  display  its 
patterns,  but  when  it  was  rolled  up  it  concealed  and 
distorted   them.     Wherefore   he  had  need  of   time. 


114  THEMISTOCLES 

The  King  at  once  showed  his  pleasure  in  this  com- 
parison by  bidding  him  take  time,  and  so  Themistocles 
asked  for  a  year,  and  in  that  time  he  learned  the 
Persian  language  sufficiently  to  have  interviews  with 

3  the  King  by  himself  without  interpreters.     Outsiders 
thought  these  conferences  concerned  Hellenic  mat- 
ters merely;  but  since  about  that  time  many  innova- 
tions were  introduced  by  the  King  at  court  and  among 
his  favorites,  the  magnates  became  jealous  of  The- 
mistocles, on  the  ground  that  he  had  made  bold  to 
use  his  freedom  of   speech  with  the  King  to  their 
harm.     For  the  honors  he  enjoyed  were  far  beyond 
those  paid  to  other  foreigners ;  nay,  he  actually  took 
part  in  the  King's  hunts  and  in  his  household  diver- 
sions, so  far  that  he  even  had  access  to  the  queen- 
mother  and   became  intimate  with  her,  and  at  the 
King's  bidding  heard  expositions  also  of  the  Magian 
lore. 

And  when  Demaratus  the  Spartan,  being  bidden 
to  ask  a  gift,  asked  that  he  might  ride  in  state  through 
Sardis,  wearing  his  tiara  upright  after  the  manner  of 
the  Persian  kings,  Mithraustes  the  King's  cousin  said, 
touching  the  tiara  of  Demaratus :  "  This  tiara  of  thine 
hath  no  brains  to  cover ;  indeed  thou  wilt  not  be 
Zeus  merely  because  thou  graspest  the  thunderbolt." 

4  The  King  also  repulsed  Demaratus  in  anger  at  his 
request,   and  was  minded  to  be  inexorable   towards 
him,  and  yet  Themistocles  begged  and  obtained  a 
reconciliation  with  him. 

And  it  is  said  that  later  kings  also,  in  whose  reigns 
Persia  and  Hellas  came  into  closer  relations,- as  often 


WAKNED  BY   CYBELE  115 

as  they  asked  for  a  Hellene  to  advise  them,  promised 
him  in  writing,  every  one,  that  he  should  be  more 
influential  at  court  than  Themistocles.  And  The- 
mistocles  himself,  they  say,  now  become  great  and 
courted  by  many,  said  to  his  children,  when  a  splen- 
did table  was  once  set  for  them  :  "  My  children,  we 
should  now  have  been  undone,  had  we  not  been  un- 
done before."  Three  cities,  as  most  writers  say,  were 
given  him  for  bread,  wine,  and  meat,  namely  :  Mag- 
nesia, Lampsacus,  and  Myus  ;  and  two  others  are 
added  by  Neanthes  of  Cyzicus  and  by  Phanias, 
namely  :  Percote  and  Palaescepsis  ;  these  for  his  bed- 
ding and  raiment. 

XXX.   Now  as  he  was  going  down  to  the  sea  on 
his  commission  to  deal  with  Hellenic  affairs,  a  Per- 
sian,  Epixyes  by  name,  satrap  of  Upper  Warned  b 
Phrygia,  plotted   against   his   life,   having 


for  a  long  time  kept  certain  Pisidians  in  escapes 
readiness  to  slay  him  whenever  he  should  death< 
reach  the  city  called  Lion's  Head,  and  take  up  his 
night's  quarters  there.  But  while  Themistocles  was 
asleep  at  midday  before,  it  is  said  that  the  Mother 
of  the  Gods  appeared  to  him  in  a  dream  and  said  : 
"  0  Themistocles,  avoid  a  head  of  lions,  that  thou 
mayest  not  encounter'  a  lion.  And  for  this  service 
to  thee,  I  demand  of  thee  Mnesiptolema  to  be  my 
handmaid."  Much  disturbed,  of  course,  Themisto- 
cles, with  a  prayer  of  acknowledgment  to  the  god- 
dess, forsook  the  highway,  made  a  circuit  by  another 
route,  and  passing  by  that  place,  at  last,  as  night 
came  on.  took  up  his  quarters. 


116  THEMISTOCLES 

B  Now,  since  one  of  the  beasts  of  burden  which  car- 
ried the  equipage  of  his  tent  had  fallen  into  the 
river,  the  servants  of  Themistocles  spread  out  the 
hangings  which  had  got  wet  and  were  drying  them 
out.  The  Pisidians,  at  this  juncture, 'sword  in  hand, 
made  their  approach,  and  since  they  could  not  see 
distinctly  by  the  light  of  the  moon  what  it  was  that 
was  being  dried,  they  thought  it  was  the  tent  of 
Themistocles,  and  that  they  would  find  him  reposing 
inside.  But  when  they  drew  near  and  lifted  up  the 
hanging,  they  were  fallen  upon  by  the  guards  and 
apprehended.  Thus  Themistocles  escaped  the  peril, 
and  because  he  was  amazed  at  the  epiphany  of  the 
goddess,  he  built  a  temple  in  Magnesia  in  honor  of 
Dindymene',  and  made  his  daughter  Mnesiptolema 
her  priestess. 

XXXI.   When  he   had  come  to  Sardis  and  was 

viewing  at  his  leisure  the  temples  built  there  and  the 

multitude  .of  their  dedicatory  offerings,  and 

His  life  and  . 

death  in  Mag-  saw  in  the  temple  ot  the  Mother  the  so-called 
Water-carrier,  —  a  maid  in  bronze,  two 
cubits  high,  which  he  himself  when  he  was  water 
commissioner  at  Athens  had  caused  to  be  made  and 
dedicated  from  the  fines  he  exacted  of  those  whom  he 
convicted  of  stealing  and  tapping  the  public  water,  — 
whether  it  was  because  he  felt  some  chagrin  at  the 
capture  of  the  offering,  or  because  he  wished  to  show 
the  Athenians  what  honor  and  power  he  had  in  the 
King's  service,  he  addressed  a  proposition  to  the  Lydian 
satrap  and  asked  him  to  restore  the  maid  to  Athens. 
2  But  the  Barbarian  was  incensed  and  threatened  to 


EST  MAGNESIA  117 

write  a  letter  to  the  King  about  it ;  whereat  Themis- 
tocles  was  afraid,  and  so  had  recourse  to  the  women's 
chambers,  and,  by  winning  the  favor  of  the  satrap's 
concubines  with  money,  succeeded  in  assuaging  his 
anger.  Thereafter  he  behaved  more  circumspectly, 
fearing  now  even  the  jealousy  of  the  Barbarians.  For 
he  did  not  wander  about  over  Asia,  as  Theopompus 
says,  but  had  a  house  in  Magnesia,  and  gathered  in 
large  gifts,  and  was  honored  like  the  noblest  Persians, 
and  so  lived  on  for  a  long  time  without  concern,  be- 
cause the  King  paid  no  heed  at  all  to  Hellenic  affairs, 
owing  to  his  occupation  with  the  state  of  the  interior. 

But  when  Egypt  revolted  with  Athenian  aid,  and  3 
Hellenic  triremes  sailed  up  as  far  as  Cyprus  and  Cilicia, 
and  Cimon's  mastery  of  the  sea  forced  the  King  to 
resist  the  efforts  of  the  Hellenes  and  to  hinder  their 
hostile  growth ;  and  when  at  last  forces  began  to  be 
moved,  and  generals  were  despatched  hither  and 
thither,  and  messages  came  to  Themistocles  in  Mag- 
nesia saying  that  the  King  commanded  him  to  make 
good  his  promises  by  applying  himself  to  the  Hellenic 
problem,  then,  neither  embittered  by  anything  like 
anger  against  his  former  fellow-citizens,  nor  lifted  up 
by  the  great  honor  and  power  he  was  to  have  in  the  4 
war,  but  possibly  thinking  his  task  an  unapproachable 
one,  both  because  Hellas  had  other  great  generals  at 
the  time,  and  especially  because  Cimon  was  so  mar- 
vellously successful  in  his  campaigns ;  yet  most  of  all 
out  of  regard  for  the  reputation  of  his  own  achieve- 
ments and  the  trophies  of  those  early  days;  having 
decided  that  his  best  course  was  to  put  a  fitting  end 


118  THEMISTOCLES 

to  his  life,  he  made  a  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  then  called 
his  friends  together,  gave  them  a  farewell  clasp  of  his 
hand,  and,  as  the  current  story  goes,  drank  bull's 
blood,  or  as  some  say,  took  a  quick  poison,  and  so 
died  in  Magnesia,  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  his  life, 
most  of  which  had  been  spent  in  political  leadership. 

They  say  that  the  King,  on  learning  the  cause  and 
the  manner  of  his  death,  admired  the  man  yet  more, 
and  continued  to  treat  his  friends  and  kindred  with 
kindness. 

XXXII.   Themistocles  left  three  sons  by  Archippe, 

the  daughter  of  Lysander,   of  the   deme  Alopece, 

namely :  Archeptolis,  Polyeuctus  and  Cleo- 

His  burial,  -,•,••, 

and  his  pos-  phantus,  the  last  of  whom  Plato  the  philo- 
sopher mentions  as  a  capital  horseman,  but 
good  for  nothing  else.  Of  his  two  oldest  sons,  Neocles 
died  in  boyhood  from  the  bite  of  a  horse,  and  Diocles 
was  adopted  by  his  grandfather  Lysander.  He  had 
several  daughters,  of  whom  Mnesiptolema,  born  of  his 
second  wife,  became  the  wife  of  Archeptolis  her  half- 
brother,  and  Italia  of  Panthoides  the  Chian,  and 
Sybaris  of  Nicomedes  the  Athenian.  Nicomache 
was  given  in  marriage  by  her  brothers  to  Phrasicles, 
the  nephew  of  Themistocles,  who  sailed  to  Magnesia 
after  his  uncle's  death,  and  who  also  took  charge  of 
Asia,  the  youngest  of  all  the  children. 
2  The  Magnesians  have  a  splendid  tomb  of  Themisto- 
cles in  their  market  place;  and  with  regard  to  his 
remains,  Andocides  is  worthy  of  no  attention  when  he 
says,  in  his  Address  to  his  Associates,  that  the  Athe- 
nians stole  away  those  remains  and  scattered  them 


HIS   TOMB  119 

abroad;  for  he  is  trying  by  his  lies  to  incite  the 
oligarchs  against  the  people;  and  Phylarchus,  too, 
when,  as  if  in  a  tragedy,  he  all  but  erects  a  theatrical 
machine  for  this  story,  and  brings  into  the  action  a 
certain  Neocles,  forsooth,  and  Demopolis,  sons  of 
Themistocles,  wishes  merely  to  stir  up  tumultuous 
emotion ;  his  tale  even  an  ordinary  person  must  know 
is  fabricated. 

Diodorus  the  Topographer,  in  his  work  "  On  Tombs,"  3 
says,  by  conjecture  rather  than  from  actual  knowledge, 
that  near  the  large  harbor  of  the  Piraeus  a  sort  of 
elbow  juts  out  from  the  promontory  opposite  Alcimus, 
and  that  as  you  round  this  and  come  inside  where  the 
water  of  the  sea  is  still,  there  is  a  basement  of  gener- 
ous size,  and  that  the  altar-like  structure  upon  this  is 
the  tomb  of  Themistocles.  And  he  thinks  that  the 
comic  poet  Plato  is  a  witness  in  favor  of  his  view 
when  he  says : 

"  Thy  tomb  is  mounded  in  a  fair  and  sightly  place; 
The  merchantmen  shall  greet  it  from  on  every  side  ; 
It  shall  behold  those  outward,  and  those  inward  bound, 
And  view  the  emulous  rivalry  of  racing  ships." 

For  the  lineal  descendants  of  Themistocles  there  4 
were  also  certain  dignities  maintained  in  Magnesia 
down  to  my  time,  and  the  revenues  of  these  were 
enjoyed  by  a  Themistocles  of  Athens,  who  was  my 
intimate  and  friend  in  the  school  of  Ammonius  the 
philosopher. 


AEISTIDES 


ARISTIDES 

I.  ARISTIDES,  the  son  of  Lysimachus,  belonged  to 
the  tribe  Antiochis,  and  to  the  deme  Alopece.  As 
regards  his  substance,  stories  differ,  some  Birth  and 
having  it  that  he  passed  all  the  days  of  his  8ubstance- 
life  in  severe  poverty,  and  that  at  his  death  he  left 
behind  him  two  daughters  who  for  a  long  time  were 
not  sought  in  marriage  because  of  their  indigence. 
But  in  contradiction  of  this  story  which  so  many  writ- 
ers give,  Demetrius  of  Phalerum,  in  his  "  Socrates," 
says  he  knows  of  an  estate  in  Phalerum  which  be- a 
longed  to  Aristides,  —  the  one  in  which  he  lies 
buried,  —  and  regards  as  proofs  of  his  opulent  cir- 
cumstances, first,  his  office  of  Archon  Eponymous, 
which  only  he  could  hold  who  obtained  it  by  lot 
from  among  the  families  carrying  the  highest  property- 
assessments  (these  were  called  Pentacosiomedimni,  or 
Five-hundred-bushelers)  j  second,  his  banishment  in 
ostracism,  for  no  poor  man,  but  only  men  from  great 
houses  which  incurred  envy  because  of  their  family 
influence  were  liable  to  ostracism ;  third,  and  last, 
the  fact  that  he  left  in  the  precinct  of  Dionysus  as 
offerings  for  victory  in  choral  contests  some  tripods, 
which,  even  in  our  day,  were  pointed  out  as  still 
bearing  the  inscription:  "The  tribe  Antiochis  was 
victorious ;  Aristides  was  Choregus ;  Archestratus 
was  Poet." 


124  ARISTIDES 

s  Now  this  last  argument,  though  it  seems  very 
strong,  is  really  very  weak.  For  both  Epaminondas, 
who,  as  all  men  know,  was  reared  and  always  lived 
in  great  poverty,  and  Plato  the  philosopher,  took  it 
upon  themselves  to  furnish  munificent  public  perfor- 
mances, the  first,  of  men  trained  to  play  the  flute, 
the  second,  of  boys  trained  to  sing  and  dance ;  but 
Plato  received  the  money  that  he  spent  thereon  from 
Dion  of  Syracuse,  and  Epaminondas  from  Pelopidas. 
Good  men  wage  no  savage  and  relentless  war  against 
the  gifts  of  friends,  but  while  they  look  upon  gifts 
taken  to  be  stored  away  and  increase  the  receiver's 
wealth  as  ignoble  and  mean,  they  refuse  none  which 
promote  an  unselfish  and  splendid  munificence. 

4  However,  as  regards  the  tripods,  Pansetius  tries  to 
show  that   Demetrius  was   deceived  by  identity  of 
name.     From   the  Persian  wars,  he  says,  down   to 
the  end  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  only  two  Aristides 
are  recorded  as  victorious  choregi,  and  neither  of  them 
is  identical  with  the  son  of  Lysimachus.     One  was 
the  son  of  Xenophilus,  and  the  other  lived  long  after- 
wards, as  is  proved  by  the  inscription  itself,  which  is 
written  in  the  character  used  after  Eucleides,  as  well 
as  by  the  last  name,  Archestratus,  of  whom  there  is 
no  record  during  the  Persian  wars,  while  during  the 
time  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  his  name  often  appears 
as  that  of  a  choral  poet. 

5  This  argument  of  Panaetius  should  be  more  closely 
examined  as  to  its  validity ;  but  to  banishment  in 
ostracism  every  one  was  liable  who  was  superior  to 
the  common  run  of  men  in  reputation,  or  lineage,  or 


RIVALRY   WITH   THEMISTOCLES  125 

eloquence.  And  so  it  was  that  Damon,  the  teacher 
of  Pericles,  was  ostracized  because  he  was  thought  to 
be  rather  extraordinary  in  his  wisdom. 

Furthermore,  Idomeneus  says  that  Aristides  ob- 
tained the  office  of  archon,  not  by  lot,  but  by  the 
election  of  the  Athenians.  And  if  he  was  made 
archon  after  the  battle  of  Plataea,  as  Demetrius  him- 
self has  written,  it  is  certainly  very  credible  that  in 
view  of  such  a  reputation  and  such  successes  as  he 
there  won,  he  should  be  deemed  worthy,  for  his 
valor,  of  an  office  which  men  who  drew  lots  for  it 
obtained  for  their  wealth. 

Demetrius  is  clearly  ambitious  to  rescue  not  only 
Aristides,  but  also  Socrates  from  what  he  deems  the 
great  evil  of  poverty,  for  he  says  that  Socrates  owned 
not  only  his  house,  but  also  seventy  mince  out  at 
interest  with  Crito. 

II.  Aristides  was  an  intimate  friend  of  that  Cleis- 
thenes  who  set  the  state  in  order  after  the  expulsion 
of  the  tyrants.  He  also  admired  and  emu- 
lated,  above  all  other  statesmen,  Lycurgus 
the  Lacedaemonian.  He  therefore  favored 
an  aristocratic  form  of  government,  and  ever  had 
opposed  to  him,  as  champion  of  the  people,  Themis- 
tocles  the  son  of  Neocles. 

Some  say  that  even  as  boys  and  fellow-pupils,; 
from  the  outset,  in  every  word  and  deed,  whether 
serious  or  trivial,  they  were  at  variance  with  one 
another,  and  that  by  this  very  rivalry  their  natures 
were  straightway  made  manifest,  the  one  as  dex- 
trous, reckless,  and  unscrupulous,  easily  carried  with 


126  ARISTIDES 

impetuosity  into  any  and  every  undertaking;  the 
other  as  established  on  a  character  which  was  firm, 
and  intent  on  justice,  and  which  admitted  no  falsity  or 
vulgarity  or  deceit,  not  even  in  any  sport  whatsoever. 

8  But  Ariston  of  Ceos  says  that  this  enmity  of  theirs, 
which  came  to  be  so  intense,  had  its  origin  in  a  love 
affair.  They  were  both  enamoured  of  Stesilalis,  who 
was  of  Ceian  birth,  and  in  beauty  of  person  the  most 
brilliant  of  youths ;  and  they  cherished  their  passion 
so  immoderately,  that  not  even  after  the  boy's  beauty 
had  faded  did  they  lay  aside  their  rivalry,  but,  as 
though  they  had  merely  taken  preliminary  practice 
and  exercise  in  that,  they  presently  engaged  in  mat- 
ters of  state  also  with  passionate  heat  and  opposing 
desires. 

4  Themistocles  joined  a  society  of  political  friends, 
and  so  secured  no  inconsiderable  support  and  power. 
Hence  when  some  one  told  him  that  he  would  be  a 
good  ruler  over  the  Athenians  if  he  would  only  be 
fair  and  impartial  to  all,  he  replied :  "  Never  may 
I  sit  on  a  tribunal  where  my  friends  are  to  get  no 
more  advantage  from  me  than  strangers." 

But  Aristides  walked  the  way  of  statesmanship  by 
himself,  on  a  private  path  of  his  own,  as  it  were, 
because,  in  the  first  place,  he  was  unwilling  to  join 
with  any  comrades  in  wrong-doing,  or  to  vex  them 
by  withholding  favors ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  he 
saw  that  power  derived  from  friends  incited  many  to 
do  wrong,  and  so  was  on  his  guard  against  it,  deem- 
ing it  right  that  the  good  citizen  should  base  his 
confidence  only  on  serviceable  and  just  conduct. 


UNSELFISH    PATRIOTISM  127 

III.   However,  since  Themistocles  was  a  reckless 
agitator,  and  opposed  and  thwarted  him  in   every 
measure  of  state,  Aristides  was  almost  com-   Political 
pelled,  for  his  own  part  also,  partly  in  self-   ^^T 
defence,  and  partly  to  curtail  his  adversary's  tocies ;  un- 

1-1  •  -xi.  t,    XT-        selfish  patri- 

power,  which  was  increasing  through  the   otismof 
favor  of   the   many,   to   set  himself,  even  Ari8tides- 
against   his   real  convictions,  in  opposition  to  what 
Themistocles  was   trying  to  do,  thinking  it  better 
that  some  advantages  should  escape  the  people  than 
that  his  adversary,  by  prevailing  everywhere,  should 
become  too  strong. 

Finally  there  came  a  time  when  he  opposed  and  3 
defeated  Themistocles  in  an  attempt  to  carry  some 
really  necessary  measure.  Then  he  could  no  longer 
hold  his  peace,  but  declared,  as  he  left  the  assembly, 
that  there  was  no  safety  for  the  Athenian  state 
unless  they  threw  both  Themistocles  and  himself 
into  the  barathrum.  On  another  occasion  he  him- 
self introduced  a  certain  measure  to  the  people,  and 
was  carrying  it  through  successfully,  in  spite  of  the 
attacks  of  the  opposition  upon  it,  but  just  as  the 
presiding  officer  was  to  put  it  to  the  final  vote,  per- 
ceiving, from  the  very  speeches  that  had  been  made 
in  opposition  to  it,  the  inexpediency  of  his  measure, 
he  refrained  from  having  it  enacted.  And  often- 
times he  would  introduce  his  measures  through  other 
men,  that  Themistocles  might  not  be  driven  by  the 
spirit  of  rivalry  with  him  to  oppose  what  was 
expedient  for  the  state. 

Altogether  admirable  was  his  steadfast  constancy  3 


128  ARISTIDES 

amid  the  revulsions  of  political  feeling.  He  was  not 
unduly  lifted  up  by  his  honors,  and  faced  adversity 
with  a  calm  gentleness,  while  in  all  cases  alike  he 
considered  it  his  duty  to  give  his  services  to  his 
country  freely  and  without  any  reward,  either  in 
money,  or,  what  meant  far  more,  in  reputation. 
And  so  it  befell,  as  the  story  goes,  that  when  the 
verses  composed  by  JEschylus  upon  Amphiaraus  were 
recited  in  the  theatre:  — 

"  He  wishes  not  to  seem,  but  rather  just  to  be, 
And  reap  a  harvest  from  deep  furrows  in  a  mind 
From  which  there  spring  up  honorable  counsellings," 

all  the  spectators  turned  their  eyes  on  Aristides,  feel- 
ing that  he,  above  all  men,  was  possessed  of  such 
excellence. 

IV.   It  was  not  only  against  the  inclinations  of  his 

good-will   and   personal  favor  that  he  was  a  most 

strenuous  champion   of    justice,   but    also 

Anecdotes  r  . 

of  his  jua-  against  those  of  his  anger  and  hatred.  At 
any  rate  a  story  is  told,  how  he  was  once 
prosecuting  an  enemy  in  court,  and  after  he  had  made 
his  accusation  the  judges  were  loath  to  hear  the  de- 
fendant at  all,  and  demanded  that  their  vote  be  taken 
against  him  straightway;  but  Aristides  sprang  to 
his  feet  and  seconded  the  culprit's  plea  for  a  hearing 
and  the  usual  legal  procedure. 

And  again,  when  he  was  serving  as  private  arbi- 
trator between  two  men,  on  one  of  them  saying  that 
his  opponent  had  done  Aristides  much  injury,  "  Tell 
me  rather,"  he  said,  "  whether  he  has  done  thee  any 


TREASURER  OF  STATE  129 

wrong;   it  is  for  thee,  not  for  myself,  that   I  am 
seeking  justice." 

When  he  was  elected  overseer  of  the  public  rev- a 
enues,  he  proved  clearly  that  large  sums  had  been 
embezzled,  not  only  by  his  fellow-officials,  but  also 
by  those  of  former  years,  and  particularly  by  The- 
mistocles :  — 

"  The  man  was  clever,  but  of  his  hand  had  no  control. " 

For  this  cause  Themistocles  banded  many  together  „ 
•  against  Aristides,  prosecuted  him  for  theft  at  the  I 
auditing  of  his  accounts,  and  actually  got  a  verdict 
against  him,  according  to  Idomeneus.  But  the  firsts 
and  best  men  of  the  city  were  incensed  at  this,  and 
he  was  not  only  exempted  from  his  fine,  but  even 
appointed  to  administer  the  same  charge  again.  Then 
he  pretended  to  repent  him  of  his  former  course,  and 
made  himself  more  pliable,  thus  giving  pleasure  to 
those  who  were  stealing  the  common  funds  by  not 
examining  them  or  holding  them  to  strict  account, 
so  that  they  gorged  themselves  with  the  public  mon- 
eys, and  then  lauded  Aristides  to  the  skies,  and 
pleaded  with  the  people  in  his  behalf,  eagerly  desirous 
that  he  be  once  more  elected  to  his  office.  But  just* 
as  they  were  about  to  vote,  Aristides  rebuked  the 
Athenians.  "  Verily,"  said  he,  "  when  I  served  you 
in  office  with  fidelity  and  honor,  I  was  reviled  and 
persecuted ;  but  now  that  I  am  flinging  away  much 
of  the  common  fund  to  thieves,  I  am  thought  to  be 
an  admirable  citizen.  For  my  part,  I  am  more 
ashamed  of  my  present  honor  than  I  was  of  my 


130  ARISTIDES 

former  condemnation,  and  I  am  sore  distressed  for 
you,  because  it  is  more  honorable  in  your  eyes  to 
please  base  men  than  to  guard  the  public  moneys." 
By  these  words,  as  well  as  by  exposing  their  thefts, 
he  did  indeed  stop  the  mouths  of  the  men  who  were 
then  testifying  loudly  in  his  favor,  but  he  won  genu- 
ine and  just  praise  from  the  best  citizens. 

V.  Now  when  Datis,  on  being  sent  by  Darius 
ostensibly  to  punish  the  Athenians  for  burning  Sardis, 
Aristidesat  but  really  to  subdue  all  the  Hellenes,  put 
Marathon.  }n  a^  Marathon  with  all  his  armament  and 
went  to  ravaging  the  country,  then,  of  the  ten  gen- 
erals appointed  by  the  Athenians  for  the  conduct  of 
the  war,  it  was  Miltiades  who  enjoyed  the  greatest 
consideration,  but  in  reputation  and  influence  Aris- 
tides  was  second  only  to  him.  By  adopting  at  that 
time  the  opinion  of  Miltiades  about  the  battle  to  be 
fought,  he  did  much  to  turn  the  scale  in  its  favor. 
And  since  each  general  held  the  chief  authority  for 
a  single  day  hi  turn,  when  the  command  came  round 
to  him,  he  handed  it  over  to  Miltiades,  thereby  teach- 
ing his  fellow-officers  that  to  obey  and  follow  men 
of  wisdom  is  not  disgraceful,  but  dignified  and  sal- 
utary. By  thus  appeasing  the  jealousy  of  his  col- 
leagues and  inducing  them  to  be  cheerfully  contented 
in  the  adoption  of  a  single  opinion  (and  that  the 
best),  he  confirmed  Miltiades  in  the  strength  which 
comes  from  an  unrestricted  power.  For  each  of  the 
other  generals  at  once  relinquished  his  own  right  to 
command  for  a  day  in  turn,  and  put  himself  at  the 
orders  of  Miltiades. 


AT  MARATHON  131 

In  the  battle  the  Athenian  centre  was  the  hardest  a 
pressed,  and  it  was  there  that  the  Barbarians  held 
their  ground  the  longest,  over  against  the  tribes 
JL^ontis  and  Antiochis.  There,  then,  Themistocles 
and  Arjstides  fought  brilliantly,  ranged  side  by  side ; 
for  one  was  a  Leontid,  the  other  an  Antiochid. 
When  the  Athenians  had  routed  the  Barbarians  and 
driven  them  aboard  their  ships  and  saw  that  they 
were  sailing  away,  not  toward  the  islands,  but  into 
the  gulf  toward  Attica  under  compulsion  of  wind 
and  wave,  then  they  were  afraid  lest  the  enemy  find 
Athens  empty  of  defenders,  and  so  they  hastened 
homeward  with  nine  tribes,  and  reached  the  city  that 
very  day. 

But  Aristides  was  left  behind  at  Marathon  with  3 
his  own  tribe,  to  guard  the  captives  and  the  booty. 
Nor  did  he  belie  his  reputation,  but  though  silver 
and  gold  lay  about  in  heaps,  and  though  there  were 
all  sorts  of  raiment  and  untold  wealth  besides  in  the 
tents  and  captured  utensils,  he  neither  desired  to 
meddle  with  it  himself,  nor  would  he  suffer  any  one 
else  to  do  so,  except  as  certain  ones  helped  themselves 
without  his  knowledge. 

Among  these  was  Callias  the  Torch-bearer.  Some  4 
Barbarian,  it  seems,  rushed  up  to  this  man,  supposing 
him  to  be  a  king  from  his  long  hair  and  the  head- 
band that  he  wore,  made  obeisance  to  him,  and  tak- 
ing him  by  the  hand  in  suppliant  fashion,  showed 
him  a  great  mass  of  gold  buried  up  in  a  sort  of  pit. 
Callias,  most  savage  and  lawless  of  men,  took  up  the 
gold ;  but  the  man,  to  prevent  his  betraying  the 


132  ARISTIDES 

matter  to  others,  he  slew.  From  this  circumstance, 
they  say,  his  descendants  are  called  by  the  comic 
poets  "  Laccopluti,"  or  "  Pit-wealthies,"  in  sly  allusion 
to  the  place  where  Callias  found  his  gold. 

5  Aristides  at  once  received  the  office  of  Archon 
Eponymous.  And  yet  Demetrius  of  Phalerum  says 
that  it  was  a  little  while  before  his  death,  and  after 
the  battle  of  Platsea,  that  the  man  held  this  office. 
But  in  the  official  records,  after  Xanthippides,  in 
whose  year  of  office  Mardonius  was  defeated  at 
Plataea,  you  cannot  find,  long  as  the  list  is,  so  much 
as  the  name  Aristides;  whereas  immediately  after 
Phanippus,  in  whose  year  of  office  the  victory  at 
Marathon  was  won,  an  Aristides  is  recorded  as  archon. 
VI.  Of  all  his  virtues  it  was  his  justice  that  most 
impressed  the  multitude,  because  of  its  most  contin- 
Aristides  ual  and  most  general  exercise.  Wherefore, 
philosophy'  though  poor  and  a  man  of  the  people,  he 
of  justice.  acquired  that  most  kingly  and  godlike  sur- 
name of  "  The  Just."  This  no  kings  or  tyrants  ever 
coveted,  nay,  they  rejoiced  to  be  surnamed  "Be- 
siegers," or  "  Thunderbolts,"  or  "  Conquerors,"  and 
some  "Eagles,"  or  "Hawks,"  cultivating  the  repu- 
tation which  is  based  on  violence  and  power,  as  it 
seems,  rather  than  on  virtue. 

2  And  yet  divinity,  to  which  such  men  are  eager  to 
adapt  and  conform  themselves,  is  believed  to  have 
three  elements  of  superiority,  —  incorruption,  power, 
and  virtue ;  and  the  most  reverend,  the  divinest  of 
these,  is  virtue.  For  vacuum  and  the  ultimate  ele- 
ments partake  of  incorruption;  and  great  power  is 


JUSTICE  AND  OSTRACISM  133 

exhibited  by  earthquakes  and  thunderbolts,  and  rush- 
ing tornadoes,  and  invading  floods;  but  in  funda- 
mental justice  nothing  participates  except  through 
the  exercise  of  intelligent  reasoning  powers. 

Therefore,  considering  the  three  feelings  which  are  3 
generally  entertained  towards  divinity,  —  envy,  fear, 
and  honorable  regard, — men  seem  to  envy  and  felici- 
tate the  deities  for  their  incorruption  and  perpetuity ; 
to  dread  and  fear  them  for  their  sovereignty  and 
power;  but  to  love  and  honor  and  revere  them  for 
their  justice.  And  yet,  although  men  are  thus  dis- 
posed, it  is  immortality,  of  which  our  nature  is  not 
capable,  and  power,  the  chief  disposal  of  which  is  in 
the  hands  of  fortune,  that  they  eagerly  desire ;  while 
as  for  virtue,  the  only  divine  excellence  within  our 
reach,  they  put  it  at  the  bottom  of  the  list,  unwisely 
too,  since  a  life  passed  in  power  and  great  fortune 
and  authority  needs  justice  to  make  it  divine  ;  by  in- 
justice it  is  made  bestial. 

VII.   Now,  to  resume,  it  befell  Aristides   to  be 
loved  at  first  because  of  this  surname,  but  afterwards 
to  be  jealously  hated,  especially  when  The-   Hisostra- 
mistocles  set  the  story  going   among  the   ™™t0^Q 
multitude   that   Aristides   had   done   away  Just- 
with  the  public  courts  of  justice  by  his  determining 
and  judging  everything  in  private,  and  that,  without 
any  one  perceiving  it,  he  had  established  for  himself 
a  monarchy,  saving  only  the  armed  body-guard.     And 
besides,  the  people  too  must  by  this  time  have  become 
greatly  elated  over  their  victory;  they  thought  nothing 
too  good  for  themselves,  and  so  were  vexed  with 


134  ARISTIDES 

those  who  towered  above  the  multitude  in  name  and 

2  reputation.     So  they  assembled  in  the  city  from  all 
the  country  round,  and  ostracized  Aristides,  giving  to 
their  envious  dislike  of  his  reputation  the  name  of 
fear  of  tyranny. 

Now  the  sentence  of  ostracism  was  not  a  chastise- 
ment of  base  practices,  nay,  it  was  speciously  called  a 
humbling  and  docking  of  oppressive  influence  and 
power ;  but  it  was  really  a  merciful  exorcism  of  the 
spirit  of  jealous  hate,  which  thus  vented  its  malignant 
desire  to  injure,  not  in  some  irreparable  evil,  but  in 

3  a  mere  change  of  residence  for  ten  years.     And  when 
ignoble  men  of  the  baser  sort  came  to  be  subjected 

!  to  this  penalty,  it  ceased  to  be  inflicted  at  all,  and 
Hyperbolus  was  the  last  to  be  thus  ostracized. 

It  is  said  that  Hyperbolus  was  ostracized  for  the 
following  reason.  Alcibiades  and  Nicias  had  the 
greatest  power  in  the  state,  and  were  at  odds.  Ac- 
cordingly, when  the  people  were  about  to  exercise  the 
ostracism,  and  were  clearly  going  to  vote  against  one 
or  the  other  of  these  two  men,  they  came  to  terms 
with  one  another,  united  their  opposing  factions,  and 
effected  the  ostracism  of  Hyperbolus.  The  people 
were  incensed  at  this,  for  they  felt  that  the  institution 
had  been  insulted  and  abused,  and  so  they  abandoned 
it  utterly  and  put  an  end  to  it. 

4  The  method  of  procedure,  —  to  give  a  general  out- 
line,— was  as  follows.    Each  voter  took  an  ostrakon,  or 
potsherd,  wrote  on  it  the  name  of  that  citizen  whom 
he  wished  to  have  change  his  residence,  and  brought  it 
to  a  place  in  the  agora  which  was  all  fenced  about 


MAGNANIMITY   AT   SALAMIS  135 

with  railings.  The  archons  first  counted  the  total 
number  of  ostraka  cast.  For  if  the  voters  were  less 
than  six  thousand,  the  ostracism  was  void.  Then 
they  separated  the  names,  and  the  man  who  had 
received  the  most  votes  they  proclaimed  banished  for 
ten  years,  with  the  right  to  enjoy  the  income  from 
his  property. 

Now  at  the  time  of  which  I  was  speaking,  as  the  5 
voters  were  inscribing  their  ostraka,  it  is  said  that  an 
unlettered  and  utterly  boorish  fellow  handed  his 
ostrakon  to  Aristides,  whom  he  took  to  be  one  of  the 
ordinary  crowd,  and  asked  him  to  write  Aristides  on 
it.  He,  astonished,  asked  the  man  what  possible 
wrong  Aristides  had  done  him.  "  None  whatever," 
was  the  answer,  "  I  don't  even  know  the  fellow,  but  I 
am  tired  of^_hearing  him  everywhere  called  '  The 
Just.' '  "On  hearing  this,  Aristides  made  no  answer, 
but  wrote  his  name  on  the  ostrakon  and  handed  it 
back. 

Finally,  as  he  was  departing  the  city,  he  lifted  upe 
his   hands   to   heaven   and  prayed,  —  a   prayer   the 
opposite,  as  it  seems,  of  that  which  Achilles  made, 
—  that  no  crisis  might  overtake  the  Athenians  which 
should  compel  the  people  to  remember  Aristides. 

VIII.    But   in    the    third    year    thereafter,   when 
Xerxes  was  marching  through  Thessaly  and  Boeotia 

against  Attica,  they  repealed  their  law  of 

.  111        ^'s  magn»- 

ostracism,  and  voted  that  those  who  had  nimity  before 

been  sent  away  under  it  might  return.    The  s 

chief  reason  for  this  was  their  fear  of  Aristides,  lest 

he  attach  himself  to  the  enemy's  cause,  and  corrupt 


136  ARISTIDES 

and  pervert  many  of  his  fellow-citizens  to  the  side 
of  the  Barbarian.  But  they  much  misjudged  the 
man.  Even  before  this  decree  of  theirs,  he  was  ever 
inciting  and  urging  the  Hellenes  to  win  their  free- 
dom; and  after  it  was  passed,  when  Themistocles 
was  general  with  sole  powers,  he  assisted  him  in  every 
undertaking  and  counsel,  although  he  thereby,  for 
the  sake  of  the  general  safety,  made  his  chiefest  foe 
the  most  famous  of  men. 

2  Thus  when  Eurvbiades  wished  to  abandon  Salamis, 
but  the  barbarian  triremes,  putting  out  by  night,  had 
encompassed  the  strait  where  he  lay  round  about, 
and  had  beset  the  islands  therein,  and  no  Hellene 
knew  of  this  encompassment,  Aristides  came  over  to 
them  from  ^Egina,  venturously  sailing  through  the 
enemy's  ships.     He  went  at  once  by  night  to  the 
tent  of   Themistocles,   and  called   him  forth   alone. 

3  "  0  Themistocles,"  said  he,  "  if  we  are  wise,  we  shall 
at  last  lay  aside  our  vain  and  puerile  contention,  and 
begin  a  salutary  and  honorable  rivalry  with  one  an- 
other in  emulous  struggles  to  save  Hellas,  thou  as 
commanding  general,  I  as  assistant  counsellor,  since 
at  the  very  start  I  learn  that  thou  art  the  only  one 
who  has  adopted  the  best  policy,  urging  as  thou  dost 
to  fight  a  decisive  sea-fight  here  in  the  narrows  as 
soon  as  may  be.    And  though  thine  allies  oppose  thee, 
thy  foes  would  seem  to  assist  thee  ;  for  the  sea  round 
about  and  behind  us  is  already  filled  with   hostile 
ships,  so  that  even  our  unwilling  ones  must  now  of 
necessity  be  brave  men  and  fight.     Indeed  no  way 

4  of  escape  is  left."     To  this  Themistocles  replied  :  "  I 


PSYTTALEIA  137 

should  not  have  washed,  0  Aristides,  to  find  thee 
superior  to  me  here ;  but  I  shall  try  to  emulate  thy 
fair  beginning,  and  to  surpass  thee  in  my  actions." 
At  the  same  time  he  told  Aristides  of  the  trick  that 
he  had  contrived  against  the  Barbarian,  and  entreated 
him  to  show  Eurybiades  convincingly,  inasmuch  as 
he  had  the  greater  influence  with  that  commander, 
that  there  was  no  safety  except  in  a  sea-fight. 

So  it  happened  in  the  council  of  generals,  that  5 
Cleocritus  the  Corinthian  declared  to  Themistocles 
that  his  plan  was  not  pleasing  to  Aristides,  since 
he,  though  present,  held  his  peace.  Aristides  at  once 
replied  that  he  would  not  have  held  his  peace  had 
not  Themistocles  counselled  for  the  best ;  but  as  it 
was,  he  kept  quiet,  not  out  of  any  good-will  to  the 
man,  but  because  he  approved  of  his  plan. 

IX.  While  the  captains  of  the  Hellenes  were 
acting  on  this  plan,  Aristides  noticed  that  Psyttaleia, 
a  small  island  lying  in  the  straits  in  front  . 

J  His  exploit 

of  Salamis,  was  full  of  the  enemy.  He  at  Saiamis. 
therefore  embarked  in  small  boats  the  most  ardent 
and  the  most  warlike  of  the  citizens,  made  a  landing 
on  Psyttaleia,  joined  battle  with  the  Barbarians,  and 
slew  them  all,  save  the  few  conspicuous  men  who 
were  taken  alive.  Among  these  were  three  sons  2 
of  the  King's  sister  Sandauce*,  whom  he  straight- 
way sent  to  Themistocles,  and  it  is  said  that,  in 
obedience  to  some  oracle  or  other,  and  at  the  bidding 
of  Euphrantides  the  seer,  they  were  sacrificed,  before 
the  battle,  to  Dionysus  Carnivorous. 

Then  Aristides  lined  the  islet  all  round  with  his 


138  ARISTIDES 

hoplites,  and  lay  in  wait  for  any  who  should  be  cast 
up  there,  that  no  friend  might  perish,  and  no  foe 
escape.  For  the  greatest  crowding  of  the  ships,  and 
the  most  strenuous  part  of  the  battle,  seems  to  have 
been  in  this  region.  And  for  this  reason  a  trophy 
was  erected  on  Psyttaleia. 

i  After  the  battle,  Themistocles,  by  way  of  sounding 
Aristides,  said  that  the  deed  they  had  now  performed 
was  a  noble  one,  but  a  greater  still  remained,  and 
that  was  to  capture  Asia  in  Europe,  by  sailing  up 
to  the  Hellespont  as  fast  as  they  could  and  cutting 
in  twain  the  bridges  there.  But  Aristides  cried  out 
with  a  loud  voice  and  bade  him  abandon  the  pro- 
posal, and  seek  rather  with  all  diligence  how  they 
might  most  speedily  expel  the  Mede  from  Hellas, 
lest,  being  shut  in  and  unable  to  make  his  escape, 
from  sheer  necessity  he  throw  this  vast  force  of  his 
upon  the  defensive.  So  Themistocles  sent  once  more 
the  eunuch  Arnaces,  a  prisoner  of  war,  bidding  him 
tell  the  King  that  the  Hellenes  had  actually  set  out 
on  a  voyage  to  attack  the  bridges,  but  that  he, 
Themistocles,  had  succeeded  in  turning  them  back, 
wishing  to  save  the  King. 

X.   At  this  Xerxes   grew  exceeding   fearful,  and 
hurried  straight  to  the  Hellespont ;  but  Mardonius, 

with  the  flower  of  the  army,  to  the  number 
,  of  three  hundred  thousand  men,  was  left 
t0  behind.  He  was  a  formidable  adversary, 

and  because  his  confidence  in  his  infantry 
was  strong,  he  wrote  threateningly  to  the  Hellenes, 
saying :  "  Ye  have  conquered  with  your  maritime 


EEPLIES    TO   SPARTA  AND   MARDONIUS     139 

timbers  landsmen  who  know  not  how  to  ply  the  oar ; 
but  now,  broad  is  the  land  of  Thessaly  and  fair  the 
plain  of  Boeotia  for  brave  horsemen  and  men  at  arms 
to  contend  in."  But  to  the  Athenians  he  sent  sepa- 
rate letters  and  proposals  from  the  King,  who  prom- 
ised to  restore  their  city,  give  them  much  money, 
and  make  them  lords  of  the  Hellenes,  if  only  they 
would  cease  fighting  against  him. 

When  the  Lacedaemonians  learned  this,  they  took  2 
fright,  and  sent  an  embassy  to  Athens,  begging  the 
Athenians  to  despatch  their  wives  and  children  to 
Sparta,  and  to  accept  from  her  a  support  for  their 
aged  and  infirm ;  for  great  was  the  distress  among 
the  people,  since  it  had  so  recently  lost  both  land 
and  city.  However,  after  listening  to  the  embassy, 
on  motion  of  Aristides,  they  answered  with  an  admi- 
rable answer,  declaring  that  they  could  be  tolerant 
with  their  foes  for  supposing  that  everything  was 
to  be  bought  for  wealth  and  money,  since  their  foes 
could  conceive  of  nothing  higher  than  these  things ; 
but  they  were  indignant  at  the  Lacedaemonians  for 
having  an  eye  only  to  the  penury  and  indigence  that 
now  reigned  at  Athens,  and  for  being  so  unmindful 
of  the  valor  and  ambition  of  the  Athenians  as  to 
exhort  them  to  contend  for  Hellas  merely  to  win 
their  rations. 

When  Aristides  had  passed  this  motion  and  hads 
introduced  the  waiting  embassies  into  the  assembly, 
he  bade  the  Lacedaemonians  tell  their  people  that 
there  was  not  bulk  of  gold  above  or  below  ground 
so  large  that  the  Athenians  would  take  it  in  pay- 


140  ARISTIDES 

ment  for  the  freedom  of  the  Hellenes ;  and  to  the 
messengers  of  Mardonius  he  said,  pointing  to  the  sun : 
"  As  long  as  yonder  sun  journeys  his  appointed  jour- 
ney, so  long  will  the  Athenians  wage  war  against  the 
Persians  in  behalf  of  the  land  which  has  been  ravaged 
by  them  and  of  the  temples  which  they  have  defiled 
and  consumed  with  fire."  Still  further,  he  added  a 
rider  to  the  motion,  that  the  priests  should  solemnly 
curse  all  who  came  to  a  parley  with  the  Medes  or 
forsook  the  alliance  of  the  Hellenes. 

4  When   Mardonius    for   the    second    time    invaded 
Attica,  again  the   people   crossed   over   to    Salamis. 
Then   Aristides,   who   had   been    sent   as   envoy  to 
Lacedaemon,  inveighed  against  their  sluggishness  and 
indifference,  in  that  they  had  once  more  abandoned 
Athens  to  the  Barbarian,  and  demanded  that  they  go 
to  the  aid  of  what  was  still  left  of  Hellas.     On  hear- 
ing this,  the  Ephors,  as  long  as  it  was  day,  publicly 
disported  themselves  in  easy-going  festival  fashion ; 
for  it  was  their  festival  of  the  Eyadnthia.     But  in 
the  night  they  selected  five  thousand  Spartans,  each 
of  whom  had  seven  Helots  to  attend  upon  him,  and 

5  sent  them  forth  without  the  knowledge  of  the  Athe- 
nians.    So  when  Aristides  came  before  them  with  re- 
newed invectives,  they  laughed  and  said  he  was  but 
a  sleepy  babbler,  for  that  their  army  was  already  in 
Arcadia  on  its  march  against  the  "  strangers  "  (they 
called*  the   Persians   strangers).      But    Aristides  de- 
clared they  were  jesting  out  of  all  season,  forasmuch 
as  they  were  deceiving  their  friends  instead  of  their 
enemies. 


ORACLE  FROM  DELPHI         141 

This  is  the  way  Idomeneus  tells  the  story.  But 
in  the  decree  which  Aristides  caused  to  be  passed, 
he  himself  is  not  named  as  envoy,  but  Cimon,  Xan- 
thippus,  and  Myronides. 

XL  Having  been  elected  general  with  sole  powers 
in  view  of  the  expected  battle,  he  came  to  Plataea  at 
the  head  of  eight  thousand  Athenian  hop-  The  Delphic 
lites.  There  Pausanias  also,  the  commander 
in  chief  of  the  whole  Hellenic  army,  joined 
him  with  his  Spartans,  and  the  forces  of  the  rest  of 
the  Hellenes  kept  streaming  up.  Now,  generally 
speaking,  there  was  no  limit  to  the  encampment  of 
the  Barbarians  as  it  lay  stretched  out  along  the  river 
Asopus,  so  vast  was  it;  but  round  their  baggage 
trains  and  chief  headquarters  they  built  a  quad- 
rangular wall,  whereof  each  side  was  ten  stadia 
in  length. 

To  Pausanias  and  all  the  Hellenes  under  him  2 
Tisamenus  the  Eleian  made  prophecy,  and  foretold 
victory  for  them  if  they  acted  on  the  defensive  and 
did  not  advance  to  the  attack.  But  Aristides  sent  to 
Delphi  and  received  from  the  god  response  that  the 
Athenians  would  be  superior  to  their  foes  if  they 
made  vows  to  Zeus,  Cithseronian  Hera,  Pan,  and  the 
Sphragitic  nymphs ;  paid  sacrifices  to  the  heroes 
Androcrates,  Leucon,  Pisandrus,  Damocrates,  Hyp- 
sion,  Actaeon,  and  Polyidus ;  and  if  they  sustained 
the  peril  of  battle  on  their  own  soil,  in  the  plain 
of  Eleusinian  Demeter  and  Cora. 

When  this  oracle  was  reported  to  Aristides,  it  per-s 
plexed  him  greatly.     The  heroes  to  whom  he  was  to 


142  ARISTIDES 

sacrifice  were,  it  was  true,  ancient  dignitaries  of  the 
Plataeans  ;  and  the  cave  of  the  Sphragitic  nymphs  was 
on  one  of  the  peaks  of  Cithaeron,  facing  the  summer 
sunsets,  and  in  it  there  was  also  an  oracle  in  former 
days,  as  they  say,  and  many  of  the  natives  were 
possessed  of  the  oracular  power,  and  these  were  called 
nympholepti,  or  "nymph-possessed."  But  the  plain 
of  Eleusinian  Demeter,  and  the  promise  of  victory  to 
the  Athenians  if  they  fought  the  battle  in  their  own 
territory,  called  them  back,  as  it  were,  to  Attica,  and 
changed  the  seat  of  war. 

4  At  this  time  the  general  of  the  Plataeans,  Arim- 
nestus,  had  a  dream  in  which  he  thought  he  was 
accosted  by  Zeus  the  Savior  and  asked  what  the 
Hellenes  had  decided  to  do,  and  replied  :  "  On  the 
morrow,  my  Lord,  we  are  going  to  lead  our  army 
back  to  Eleusis,  and  fight  out  our  issue  with  the 
Barbarians  there,  in  accordance  with  the  Pythian 
oracle."  Then  the  god  said  they  were  entirely  in 
error,  for  the  Pythian  oracle's  places  were  there  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Plataea,  and  if  they  sought  them 
they  would  surely  find  them.  All  this  was  made  so 
vivid  to  Arimnestus  that  as  soon  as  he  awoke  he 
summoned  the  oldest  and  most  experienced  of  his 
fellow-citizens.  By  conference  and  investigation 
with  these  he  discovered  that  near  Hysiae,  at  the 
foot  of  mount  Cithseron,  there  was  a  very  ancient 
temple  bearing  the  names  of  Eleusinian  Demeter  and 
Cora. 

6  Straightway  then  he  took  Aristides  and  led  him  to 
the  spot.  They  found  that  it  was  naturally  very 


THE   LEFT   WING  AT  PLATJEA  143 

well  suited  to  forces  inferior  in  cavalry  for  the  array 
of  their  infantry  phalanx,  since  the  spurs  of  Cithseron 
made  the  edges  of  the  plain  adjoining  the  temple 
unfit  for  horsemen.  There,  too,  was  the  shrine  of 
the  hero  Androcrates  hard  by,  enveloped  in  a  grove 
of  dense  and  shady  trees.  And  besides,  that  the 
oracle  might  leave  no  rift  in  the  hope  of  victory,  the 
Platseans  voted,  on  motion  of  Arimnestus,  to  remove 
the  boundaries  of  Platsea  on  the  side  toward  Attica, 
and  to  give  this  territory  to  the  Athenians,  that  so 
they  might  contend  in  defence  of  Hellas  on  their 
own  soil,  in  accordance  with  the  oracle. 

This  munificence  of  the  Platseans  became  so  cele-e 
brated  that  Alexander,  many  years  afterwards,  when 
he  was  now  King  of  Asia,  built  the  walls  of  Plataea, 
and  had  proclamation  made  by  herald  at  the  Olympic 
games  that  the  King  bestowed  this  grace  upon  the 
Plataeans  in  return  for  their  bravery  and  magnanimity 
in  freely  bestowing  their  territory  upon  the  Hellenes 
in  the  Median  war,  and  so  showing  themselves  most 
zealous  of  all. 

XII.  Now  with  the  Athenians  the  men  of  Tegea 
came  to  strife  regarding  their  position  in  the  line. 
They  claimed  that,  as  had  always  been  the  Dispute  for 
case,  since  the  Lacedaemonians  occupied  the 


right  wing,  they  themselves  should  occupy  tween  Te" 
the  left,  and  in  support  of  their  claim  they   Athenians. 
sounded  loudly  the  praises  of  their  ancestors.     The 
Athenians  were   incensed,   and   Aristides  came  for- 
ward and  made  this  speech  :  "  To   argue  with  the 
men  of  Tegea  about  noble  birth  and  bravery,  there 


144  ARISTIDES 

is  surely  no  time  now;  but  we  declare  to  you,  0 
Spartans,  and  to  the  rest  of  the  Hellenes,  that  valor 
is  not  taken  away  from  a  man,  nor  is  it  given  him 
s  by  his  position  in  the  line.  Whatsoever  post  ye  shall 
assign  to  us,  we  will  endeavor  to  maintain  and  adorn 
it,  and  so  bring  no  disgrace  upon  the  contests  we 
have  made  before.  We  are  come,  not  to  quarrel  with 
our  allies,  but  to  do  battle  with  our  foes ;  not  to  heap 
praises  on  our  fathers,  but  to  show  ourselves  brave 
men  in  the  service  of  Hellas.  It  is  this  contest  which 
will  show  how  much  any  city  or  captain  or  private 
soldier  is  worth  to  Hellas." 

On  hearing  this,  the  councillors  and  leaders  de- 
clared for  the  Athenians,  and  assigned  to  them  the 
other  wing. 

XIII.  While  Hellas  was  thus  in  suspense  and 
Athens  especially  in  danger,  certain  men  of  that 

oii  rchicai  °^v  w^°  were  °^  prominent  families  and 
conspiracy  large  wealth,  but  had  been  impoverished  by 
Athenians  the  war,  saw  that  with  their  riches  all  their 
at  Plata*.  infllience  jn  the  city  and  their  reputation 
had  departed,  while  other  men  now  had  the  honors 
and  offices.  They  therefore  met  together  secretly  at 
a  certain  house  in  Piataea,  and  conspired  to  over- 
throw the  democracy;  or,  if  their  plans  did  not 
succeed,  to  injure  the  general  cause  and  betray  it 
to  the  Barbarians. 

2  Such  was  the  agitation  in  the  camp,  and  many  had 
already  been  corrupted,  when  Aristides  got  wind  of 
the  matter,  and,  fearful  of  the  crisis  that  was  so 
opportune  for  the  plot,  determined  not  to  leave  the 


DEATH   OF  MASISTIUS  145 

matter  in  neglect,  nor  yet  to  bring  it  wholly  to  the 
light,  since  it  could  not  be  known  how  many  would 
be  implicated  by  a  test  which  was  based  on  justice 
rather  than  expediency.  Accordingly,  he  arrested  3 
some  eight  or  so  of  the  many  conspirators.  Two  of 
these,  against  whom  the  charge  was  first  formally 
brought,  and  who  were  really  the  most  guilty  ones, 
^Eschines  of  Lamptrae  and  Agesias  of  Acharnae,  fled 
the  camp.  The  rest  he  released,  affording  thus  an 
opportunity  for  encouragement  and  repentance  to 
those  who  still  thought  they  had  escaped  detection, 
and  suggesting  to  them  that  the  war  was  a  great 
tribunal  for  their  acquittal  from  the  charges  made 
against  them,  provided  they  took  sincere  and  right- 
eous counsel  in  behalf  of  their  country. 

XIV.    After   this,   Mardonius   made   trial   of   the 
Hellenes  with  that  arm  of  his  service  in  which  he 
thought   himself   most   superior.      He   de-  Defeat  and 
spatched  all  his  cavalry  against  them   as 


they  lay  encamped  at  the  foot  of  Cithaeron,  mander  of 

J      .   .  '   the  Persian 

in  positions  that  were  rugged  and  rocky,  —  cavalry. 
all  except  the  Megarians.  These,  to  the  number  of 
three  thousand,  were  encamped  the  rather  in  open 
plain.  For  this  reason  they  suffered  severely  at  the 
hands  of  the  cavalry,  which  poured  in  tides  against 
them,  and  found  access  to  them  on  every  side. 
Accordingly,  they  sent  a  messenger  in  haste  to  Pau- 
sanias,  bidding  him  come  to  their  aid,  since  they 
were  unable  of  themselves  to  withstand  the  host  of 
the  Barbarians. 

Pausanias,  on  hearing  this,  and  seeing  at  once  that  2 

10 


146  ARISTIDES 

the  camp  of  the  Megarians  was  as  good  as  hidden 
from  view  by  the  multitude  of  the  enemy's  javelins 
and  arrows,  and  that  its  defenders  were  huddled  to- 
gether hi  narrow  quarters,  on  his  own  part  had  no 
way  of  rendering  them  aid  against  horsemen,  since 
his  phalanx  of  Spartans  was  full-armored  and  slow 
of  movement ;  but  to  the  rest  of  the  generals  and 
captains  of  the  Hellenes  who  were  about  him  he 
proposed,  to  stir  up  their  valor  and  ambition,  that 
some  of  them  should  volunteer  to  make  contention 
for  the  succor  of  the  Megarians.  The  rest  all  hesi- 
tated, but  Aristides,  in  behalf  of  the  Athenians, 
undertook  the  task,  and  despatched  his  most  zealous 
captain,  Olympiodorus,  with  the  three  hundred  men 
of  his  command,  and  archers  mingled  with  them. 
3  These  quickly  arrayed  themselves  and  advanced 
to  the  attack  on  the  run.  Masistius,  the  commander 
of  the  barbarian  cavalry,  a  man  of  wonderful  prowess 
and  of  surpassing  stature  and  beauty  of  person,  saw 
them  coming,  and  at  once  wheeled  his  horse  to  face 
them  and  charged  down  upon  them.  Then  there 
was  a  mighty  struggle  between  those  who  withstood 
and  those  who  made  the  charge,  since  both  regarded 
this  as  a  test  of  the  whole  issue  between  them.  Pres- 
ently the  horse  of  Masistius  was  hit  with  an  arrow, 
and  threw  his  rider,  who  lay  where  he  fell,  unable  to 
raise  himself,  so  heavy  was  his  armor ;  and  yet  he 
was  no  easy  prey  to  the  Athenians,  though  they 
pressed  upon  him  and  smote  him.  For  not  only  his 
chest  and  head,  but  also  his  legs  were  encased  in  gold 
and  bronze  and  iron.  But  at  last,  with  the  spike  of 


NIGHT  MESSAGE   OF  ALEXANDER          147 

a  javelin,  through  the  eye-hole  of  his  helmet,  he  was 
smitten  to  the  death,  and  the  rest  of  the  Persians 
abandoned  his  body  and  fled. 

The  magnitude  of  their  success  was  known  to  the* 
Hellenes,  not  from  the  multitude  of  those  they  slew, 
for  few  had  fallen,  but  from  the  grief  of  the  Bar- 
barians. They  shore  their  own  hair  in  tribute  to 
Masistius,  and  that  of  their  horses  and  mules,  and 
filled  the  plain  with  their  wailing  cries.  They  felt 
that  they  had  lost  a  man  who,  after  Mardonius  him- 
self, was  by  far  the  first  in  valor  and  authority. 

XV.  After  this  cavalry  battle  both  sides  refrained 
from  further  fighting  for  a  long  time,  since  only  as 
they  acted  on  the  defensive  would  victory 
be  theirs,  —  so  the  soothsayers  interpreted 
the  sacrifices  alike  for  Persians  and  Hel-  of  Macedon. 
lenes,  —  but  if  they  attacked,  defeat.  At  last  Mar- 
donius, since  he  had  supplies  remaining  for  only 
a  few  days,  and  since  the  Hellenes  were  ever  in- 
creasing in  number  as  fresh  bodies  joined  them,  im- 
patiently determined  to  wait  no  longer,  but  to  cross 
the  Asopus  at  daybreak  and  attack  the  Athenians 
unexpectedly.  During  the  evening  he  gave  the  watch- 
word to  his  commanders. 

But  about  midnight  a  solitary  horseman  quietly  2 
approached  the  camp  of  the  Hellenes,  and  falling  in 
with  the  outposts,  ordered  that  Aristides  the  Athenian 
come  to  him.  He  was  speedily  obeyed,  and  then 
said :  "  I  am  Alexander  the  Macedonian,  and  I  am 
come  at  the  greatest  peril  to  myself,  out  of  my  good- 
will toward  you,  that  no  suddenness  of  attack  may 


148  ARISTIDES 

frighten  you  into  inferior  contention.  Mardonius 
will  surely  give  battle  on  the  morrow,  not  because 
he  has  substantial  hope  or  even  courage,  but  because 
he  is  destitute  of  provisions.  His  soothsayers,  indeed, 
are  trying  to  keep  him  from  battle  by  unpropitious 
sacrifices  and  oracular  utterances,  while  his  army  is 
a  prey  to  dejection  and  consternation ;  but  he  must 
needs  boldly  try  his  fortune,  or  sit  still  and  endure 
extremest  destitution." 

s  When  he  had  told  him  this,  Alexander  begged 
Aristides  to  keep  the  knowledge  to  himself  and  bear 
it  well  in  mind,  but  to  tell  it  to  none  other.  Aris- 
tides replied  that  it  was  not  honorable  to  conceal  this 
knowledge  from  Pausanias,  since  it  was  on  him  that 
the  supreme  command  devolved,  but  that  it  should 
not  be  told  the  other  leaders  before  the  battle ;  though 
in  case  Hellas  were  victorious,  no  man  should  remain 
ignorant  of  Alexander's  zeal  and  valor. 

After  this  conversation,  the  king  of  the  Macedon- 
ians rode  off  back  again,  and  Aristides  went  to  the 
tent  of  Pausanias  and  told  him  all  that  had  been 
said.  Then  they  summoned  the  other  leaders  and 
gave  them  orders  to  keep  the  army  in  array,  since 
there  was  to  be  a  battle. 

XVI.  At  this  juncture,  as  Herodotus  relates,  Pau- 
sanias sent  word  to  Aristides,  demanding  that  the 
Strategic  Athenians  change  their  position  and  array 
^7rounu*r-  themselves  on  the  right  wing,  over  against 
manoeuvres,  the  Persians,  where  they  would  contend 
better,  he  said,  since  they  were  versed  already  in  the 
Persian  style  of  fighting,  and  emboldened  by  a  previous 


STRATEGIC  MANOEUVRES  149 

victory  over  them ;  the  left  wing,  where  the  medising 
Hellenes  were  going  to  attack,  should  be  intrusted 
to  himself  and  his  Spartans. 

The  rest  of  the  Athenian  generals  thought  it  incon- 
siderate and  annoying  in  Pausanias  to  leave  the  rest 
of  his  line  in  the  position  assigned,  while  he  moved 
them,  and  them  only,  back  and  forth  like  Helots,  and 
put  them  forward  where  the  fighting  was  to  be  hottest. 
But  Aristides  declared  that  they  were  utterly  wrong ;  e 
they  had  contended  emulously  with  the  Tegeans,  but 
a  little  while  back,  for  the  occupation  of  the  left  wing, 
and  plumed  themselves  on  being  preferred  before 
those  rivals ;  but  now,  when  the  Lacedaemonians  of 
their  own  accord  vacated  the  right  wing  for  them, 
and  after  a  fashion  proffered  them  the  leadership 
among  the  Hellenes,  they  neither  welcomed  the 
reputation  thus  to  be  won,  nor  counted  it  gain  that 
their  contention  would  thus  be,  not  with  men  of  the 
same  tribes  and  kindreds,  but  rather  with  barbarians 
and  natural  enemies. 

Upon  this  the  Athenians  very  zealously  exchanged  s 
posts  with  the  Spartans,  and  the  word  passed  from 
lip  to  lip  far  through  their  ranks  that  their  enemies 
would  attack  them  with  no  better  arms  and  with  no 
braver  spirits  than  at  Marathon,  nay,  with  the  same 
kind  of  archery  as  then,  and  with  the  same  variegated 
vesture  and  gold  adornments  to  cover  soft  bodies  and 
unmanly  spirits ;  "  while  we  have  not  only  like  arms 
and  bodies  with  our  brethren  of  that  day,  but  that 
greater  courage  which  is  born  of  victories ;  and  our 
contest  is  not  alone  for  land  and  city,  as  theirs  was, 


150  ARISTTDES 

but  also  for  the  trophies  which  they  won  at  Marathon 
and  Salamis,  to  the  end  that  the  world  think  not  that 
even  those  were  due  to  Miltiades  only,  or  to  fortune, 
but  to  the  Athenians." 

4  The  Spartans  and  Athenians,  then,  were  busily 
engaged  in  exchanging  posts ;  but  the  Thebans  heard 
of  it  from  deserters  and  told  Mardonius.  He,  at  once, 
whether  through  fear  of  the  Athenians  or  out  of 
ambition  to  engage  with  the  Lacedaemonians,  counter- 
changed  his  Persians  to  the  right  wing,  and  ordered 
the  Hellenes  with  him  to  set  themselves  against  the 
Athenians.  When  this  change  in  his  enemy's  order 
of  battle  was  manifest,  Pausanias  returned  and  oc- 
cupied the  right  wing  again,  whereupon  Mardonius 
also  resumed  his  own  left  wing,  just  as  he  stood  at 
the  beginning,  facing  the  Lacedaemonians.  And 
thus  the  day  came  to  an  end  without  action. 

The  Hellenes,  on  deliberation,  decided  to  change 
their  camp  to  a  position  farther  on,  and  to  secure  a 
spot  where  there  was  plenty  of  good  water,  since  the 
neighboring  springs  were  defiled  and  ruined  by  the 
Barbarians'  superior  force  of  cavalry. 

XVII.  Night  came  on,  and  the  generals  set  out  to 
lead  their  forces  to  the  appointed  encampment.  The 
Retreat  of  soldiers,  however,  showed  no  great  eager- 
arid  attack'  ness  ^°  f°H°w  m  c^ose  order,  but  when  they 
of  Mardonius.  had  once  abandoned  their  first  defences, 
most  of  them  hurried  on  toward  the  city  of  Plataea, 
and  there  tumult  reigned  as  they  scattered  about  and 
encamped  in  no  order  whatsoever. 

It  chanced  that  the  Lacedaemonians  alone  were  left 


ATTACK   OF  MARDONIUS  151 

behind  the  others,  and  that  too  against  their  will. 
For  Amompharetus,  a  man  of  a  fierce  and  venture- 
some spirit,  who  had  long  been  mad  for  battle  and 
distressed  by  the  many  postponements  and  delays, 
now  at  last  lost  all  control  of  himself,  denounced  the 
change  of  position  as  a  runaway  flight,  and  declared 
that  he  would  not  abandon  his  post,  but  stay  there 
with  his  company  and  await  the  onset  of  Mardonius. 
And  when  Pausanias  came  up  and  told  him  that  their  2 
action  had  been  formally  voted  by  the  Hellenes  in 
council,  Amompharetus  picked  up  a  great  stone  and 
threw  it  down  at  the  feet  of  Pausanias,  saying  that 
was  his  personal  ballot  for  battle,  and  he  cared  not  a 
whit  for  the  cowardly  counsels  and  votes  of  the  rest. 
Pausanias,  perplexed  at  the  case,  sent  to  the  Athe- 
nians, who  were  already  moving  off,  begging  them  to 
wait  and  make  the  march  in  company  with  him,  and 
then  started  to  lead  the  rest  of  his  troops  toward 
Plataea,  with  the  idea  that  he  would  thus  force 
Amompharetus  from  his  position. 

At  this  point  day  overtook  them,  and  Mardonius,  3 
who  did  not  fail  to  notice  that  the  Hellenes  had 
abandoned  their  encampment,  with  his  force  in  full 
array,  bore  down  upon  the  Lacedaemonians,  with 
great  shouting  and  clamor  on  the  part  of  the  Bar- 
barians, who  felt  that  there  would  be  no  real  battle, 
but  that  the  Hellenes  had  only  to  be  snatched  off  as 
they  fled.  And  this  lacked  but  little  of  coming  to 
pass.  For  Pausanias,  on  seeing  the  situation,  though 
he  did  check  his  march  and  order  every  man  to  take 
post  for  battle,  forgot,  either  in  his  rage  at  Amom- 


152  ARISTIDES 

pharetus  or  his  confusion  at  the  speed  of  the  enemy  to 
give  the  signal  for  battle  to  the  confederate  Hellenes. 
For  this  reason  they  did  not  come  to  his  aid  at  once, 
nor  in  a  body,  but  in  small  detachments  and  strag- 
glingly,  after  the  battle  was  already  joined. 

4  When  Pausanias  got  no  favorable  omens  from  his 
sacrifices,  he  ordered  his  Lacedaemonians  to  sit  quiet 
with  their  shields  planted  in  front  of  them,  and  to 
await  his  orders,  making  no  attempt  to  repulse  their 
enemies,  while  he  himself  went  to  sacrificing  again. 
And  by  this  time  the  horsemen  were  charging  upon 
them ;  presently  their  missiles  actually  reached  them, 
and  many  a  Spartan  was  smitten.     And  then  it  was 
that  Callicrates,  said  to  be  the  fairest  of  the  Hellenes 
to  look  upon,   and  the  tallest  man  in  their  whole 
army,  was  shot,  and,  dying,  said  he  did  not  grieve  at 
death,  since  he  had  left  his  home  to  die  for  Hellas,  but 
at  dying  without  striking  a  single  blow. 

5  Their  suffering  was  indeed  a  terrible  one,  but  the 
restraint  of  the  men  was  wonderful.     They  did  not 
try  to  repel  the  enemy  who  were  attacking  them, 
but  awaited  from   their  god  and  their  general  the 
favorable  instant,  while   they  endured  wounds  and 
death  at  their  posts. 

Some  say  that  as  Pausanias  was  sacrificing  and 
praying,  a  little  to  one  side  of  his  line  of  battle,  some 
Lydians  suddenly  fell  upon  him  and  rudely  hurled 
away  the  sacrificial  offerings ;  and  that  Pausanias 
and  his  attendants,  being  without  weapons,  smote 
the  intruders  with  the  sacrificial  staves  and  goads ; 
wherefore,  to  this  day,  in  imitation  of  this  onslaught, 


THE   SPARTAN  ATTACK  153 

the  ceremonies  of  beating  the  ephebi  round  the  altar 
at  Sparta,  and  of  the  procession  of  the  Lydians  which 
follows  this,  are  duly  celebrated  as  rites. 

XVIII.    Then,  in  distress  at  this  state  of  affairs, 
while  the  seer  slew  victim  after  victim,  Pausanias 
turned  his  face,  all  tears,  toward  the  He-  The  Spar. 
raBiim,    and   with    hands    uplifted    prayed  jjns _attack 
Cithaaronian   Hera  and  the  other  gods  of  sians;  the 
the  Plataean  land  that,  if  it  was  not  the  lot  the  ^he- 
of  the  Hellenes  to  be  victorious,  they  might  bans> 
at  least  do  great  deeds  before  they  fell,  and  show  to 
a    certainty   that   their   enemies    had   marched   out 
against  men  who  were  brave  and  who  knew  how  to 
fight.      While  Pausanias  was   thus   calling   on   the 
gods,  right  in  the  midst  of  his  prayers,  the  sacrifices 
showed  themselves  propitious  and  the  seer  announced 
victory. 

Word  was  at  once  passed  all  along  the  line  to  2 
set  themselves  in  motion  against  the  enemy,  and 
the  phalanx  suddenly  had  the  look  of  a  fierce  beast 
bristling  up  to  defend  itself.  The  Barbarians  then 
got  assurance  that  their  contest  was  to  be  with  men 
who  would  fight  to  the  death.  Therefore  they  made 
a  rampart  of  their  wicker  targets  and  shot  their 
arrows  into  the  ranks  of  the  Lacedaemonians.  These, 
however,  kept  their  shields  closely  locked  together  as 
they  advanced,  fell  upon  their  foemen,  tore  away  their 
wicker  targets,  and  then,  smiting  the  Persians  in  face 
and  breast  with  their  long  spears,  they  slew  many, 
who  nevertheless  did  great  deeds  of  courage  before 
they  fell.  For  they  grasped  the  long  spears  with 


154  ARISTIDES 

their  naked  hands,  fractured  them  for  the  most  part, 
and  then  took  to  shortrrange  fighting  with  a  will, 
plying  their  daggers  and  scimetars,  tearing  away 
their  enemies'  shields,  and  locking  them  in  close 
embrace;  and  so  they  held  out  a  long  time. 

8  The  Athenians,  meanwhile,  were  quietly  awaiting 
the  Lacedaemonians.  But  when  the  shouts  of  those 
engaged  in  battle  fell  loud  upon  their  ears,  and  there 
came,  as  they  say,  a  messenger  from  Pausanias  tell- 
ing them  what  was  happening,  they  set  out  with 
speed  to  aid  him.  However,  as  they  were  advanc- 
ing through  the  plain  to  his  aid,  the  medising  Hel- 
lenes bore  down  upon  them.  Then  Aristides,  to 
begin  with,  when  he  saw  them,  went  far  forward 
and  shouted  to  them,  invoking  the  gods  of  Hellas, 
that  they  refrain  from  battle,  and  oppose  not  nor 
hinder  those  who  were  bearing  aid  to  men  standing 

4  in  the  van  of  danger  for  the  sake  of  Hellas.  But  as 
soon  as  he  saw  that  they  paid  no  heed  to  him,  and 
were  arrayed  for  battle,  then  he  turned  aside  from 
rendering  aid  where  he  had  proposed,  and  engaged 
with  these,  though  they  were  about  fifty  thousand 
in  number.  But  the  greater  part  of  them  at  once 
gave  way  and  withdrew,  especially  as  the  Barbarians 
had  also  retired,  and  the  battle  is  said  to  have  been 
fought  chiefly  with  the  Thebans,  whose  foremost 
and  most  influential  men  were  at  that  time  very 
eagerly  medising,  and  carried  with  them  the  multi- 
tude, not  of  choice,  but  at  the  bidding  of  the  few. 

XIX.   The  contest  thus  begun  in  two  places,  the 
Lacedaemonians  were  first  to  repulse   the  Persians. 


CAFrURE   OF  THE  PERSIAN   CAMP          155 

Mardonius  was  slain  by  a  man  of  Sparta  named 
Arimnestus,  who  crushed  his  head  with  a  stone,  even 
as  was  foretold  him  by  the  oracle  in  the  victory  of 
shrine  of  Aniphiaraiis.  Thither  he  had  sent  the  Helleues- 
a  Lydian  man,  and  a  Carian  besides  to  the  shrine  of 
the  Ptoan  Apollo.  This  latter  the  prophet  actually 
addressed  in  the  Carian  tongue ;  but  the  Lydian,  on 
lying  down  in  the  precinct  of  Amphiaraus,  dreamed 
that  an  attendant  of  the  god  stood  by  his  side  and 
bade  him  be  gone,  and  on  his  refusal,  hurled  a  great 
stone  upon  his  head,  insomuch  that  he  died  from  the 
blow  (so  ran  the  man's  dream).  These  things  area 
so  reported.  Furthermore,  the  Lacedaemonians  shut 
the  flying  Persians  up  in  their  wooden  stockade. 

Shortly  after  this  it  was  that  the  Athenians  routed 
the  Thebans,  after  slaying  three  hundred,  their  most 
eminent  leaders,  in  the  actual  battle.  After  the 
rout  was  effected,  and  more  might  have  been  slain, 
there  came  a  messenger  to  the  Athenians,  telling 
them  that  the  barbarian  force  was  shut  up  and  be- 
sieged in  their  stockade.  So  they  suffered  the  Hel- 
lenes in  front  of  them  to  make  good  their  escape, 
while  they  themselves  marched  to  the  stockade. 
They  brought  welcome  aid  to  the  Lacedaemonians, 
who  were  altogether  inexperienced  and  helpless  in 
storming  walled  places,  and  captured  the  camp  with 
great  slaughter  of  the  enemy.  Out  of  three  hun- 
dred thousand,  only  forty  thousand,  it  is  said,  made 
their  escape  with  Artabazus. 

Of  those  who  contended  in  behalf  of  Hellas,  there  s 
fell  in  all  one  thousand  three   hundred  and  sixty. 


156  ARISTIDES 

Of  these,  fifty-two  were  Athenians,  all  of  the  ^Eantid 
tribe,  according  to  Clidemus,  which  made  the  bravest 
contest  (for  which  reason  the  ^Eantids  used  to  sacri- 
fice regularly  to  the  Sphragitic  nymphs  the  sacrifice 
ordained  by  the  Pythian  oracle  for  the  victory,  re- 
ceiving the  expenses  therefor  from  the  public  funds) ; 
ninety-one  were  Lacedaemonians,  and  sixteen  were 
men  of  Tegea. 

4  Astonishing,  therefore,  is  the  statement  of  Herod- 
otus, where  he  says  that  these  one  hundred  fifty- 
nine  represented  the  only  Hellenes  who  engaged  the 
enemy,  and  that  not  one  of  the  rest  did  so.     Surely 
the  total  number  of  those  who  fell,  as  well  as  the 
monuments  erected  over  them,  testifies  that  the  suc- 
cess was  a  common  one.    Besides,  had  the  men  of  three 
cities  only  made  the  contest,  while  the  rest  sat  idly  by, 
the  altar  would  not  have  been  inscribed  as  it  was : 

"  Here  did  the  Hellenes,  flushed  with  a  victory  granted  by  Ares 
Over   the   routed   Persians,    together,    for   Hellas   delivered, 
Build  them  an  altar  of  Zeus,  Zeus  as  Deliverer  known." 

5  This  battle  was  fought  on  the  fourth  of  the  month 
Boedrornion,  as  the  Athenians  reckon  time ;  but  ac- 
cording  to   the    Boeotian   calendar,  on   the  twenty- 
seventh  of  the  month  Panemus,  the  day  when,  down 
to  the  present  time,  the  Hellenic  council  assembles  in 
Plataea,  and  the  Plataeans  sacrifice  to  Zeus  the  De- 
liverer for  the  victory. 

We  must  not  wonder  at  the  apparent  discrepancy 
between  these  dates,  since,  even  now  that  astronomy 
is  a  more  exact  science,  different  peoples  have  differ- 
ent beginnings  and  endings  for  their  months. 


MEED   OF  VALOR  157 

XX.  After  this,  the  Athenians  would  not  grant 
the  Spartans  the  highest  meed  of  valor,  nor  allow 
them  to  erect  a  general  trophy,  and  the  ThePia- 

TT  IT  •  tjeans  are 

cause  of  the  Hellenes  had  certainly  gone  at  given  the 
once  to  destruction  from  their  armed  con-   JJJ<w.°!ire 
tention,   had   not   Aristides,   by  abundant  is  brought 

1111-       afresh  from 

exhortation   and   admonition,  checked   his  Delphi, 
fellow-generals,  especially  Leocrates  and  Myronides, 
and    persuaded    them   to    submit    the    case    to    the 
Hellenes  for  decision. 

Thereupon,  in  the  council  of  the  Hellenes,  Theogei-  2 
ton  the  Megarian  said  that  the  meed  of  valor  must 
be  given  to  some  third  city,  unless  they  desired  the 
confusion  of  a  civil  war.  At  this  point  Cleocritus 
the  Corinthian  rose  to  speak.  Every  one  thought  he 
would  demand  the  meed  of  valor  for  the  Corin- 
thians, since  Corinth  was  held  in  greatest  estimation 
after  Sparta  and  Athens.  But  to  the  astonishment 
and  delight  of  all,  he  made  a  proposition  in  behalf  of 
the  Plataeans,  and  counselled  to  take  away  contention 
by  giving  them  the  meed  of  valor,  since  at  their 
honor  neither  claimant  could  take  offence. 

To  this  proposal  Aristides  was  first  to  agree  on  3 
behalf  of  the  Athenians,  then  Pausanias  on  behalf  of 
the  Lacedaemonians.  Thus  reconciled,  they  chose 
out  eighty  talents  of  the  booty  for  the  Plataeans,  with 
which  they  rebuilt  the  sanctuary  of  Athena,  and  set 
up  the  shrine,  and  adorned  the  temple  with  frescoes, 
which  continue  in  perfect  condition  to  the  present  day; 
then  the  Lacedaemonians  set  up  a  trophy  on  their  own 
account,  and  the  Athenians  also  for  themselves. 


158  ARISTIDES 

4  When  they   consulted   the    oracle   regarding   the 
sacrifice  to  be  made,  the  Pythian  god  made  answer 
that  they  were  to  erect  an  altar  of  Zeus  the  Deliverer, 
but  were  not  to  sacrifice  upon  it  until  they  had  ex- 
tinguished the  fire  throughout  the  land,  which  he 
said  had  been  polluted  by  the  Barbarians,  and  kindled 
it  fresh  and  pure  from  the  public  hearth  at  Delphi. 
Accordingly  the  commanders  of   the  Hellenes  went 
about  straightway  and  compelled  all  who  were  using 

5  fire  to  extinguish  it,  while  Euchidas,  who  promised 
to  bring  the  sacred  fire  with  all  conceivable  speed, 
went  from  Plataea  to  Delphi.     There  he  purified  his 
person  by  sprinkling  himself    with  the  holy  water, 
and   crowned   himself   with   laurel.     Then   he   took 
from  the  altar  the  sacred  fire   and  started  to   run 
back  to  Platsea.     He  reached  the  place  before  the 
sun  had  set,  accomplishing  thus  a  thousand  furlongs 
in  one  and  the  same  day.     He  greeted  his  country- 
men, handed  them  the  sacred  fire,  and  straightway 
fell  down,  and  after  a  little  expired.     In  admiration 
of  him  the  Platseans  gave  him  burial  in  the  sanctuary 
of   Artemis   Eucleia,  and   inscribed   upon   his   tomb 
this  tetrameter  verse : 

"  Euchidas,  to  Pytho  running,  came  back  here  the  selfsame  day." 

6  Now  Eucleia  is  regarded  by  most  as  Artemis,  and 
is  so  addressed ;  but  some  say  she  was  a  daughter 
of  Heracles  and  that  Myrto  who  was  daughter  of 
Menoetius  and  sister  of   Patroclus,  and   that,  dying 
in  virginity,  she  received  divine  honors  among  the 
Boeotians  and  Locrians.     For  she  has  an  altar  and 


FESTIVAL  OF  DELIVERANCE     .  159 

an  image  built  in  every  market  place,  and  receives 
preliminary   sacrifices    from    would-be    brides    and 


bridegrooms. 


XXI.   After  this,  there  was  a  general  assembly  of 
the  Hellenes,  at  which  Aristides  proposed  a  decree  to 
the  effect  that  deputies  and  delegates  from   The  festi- 
all  Hellas  convene  at  Plataea  every  year, 


and  that  every  fourth  year  festival  games  the  victor7- 
of  deliverance  be  celebrated,  —  the  Eleutheria  ;  also 
that  a  confederate  Hellenic  force  be  levied,  consist- 
ing of  ten  thousand  shield,  one  thousand  horse,  and 
one  hundred  ships,  to  prosecute  the  war  against  the 
Barbarian  ;  also  that  the  Platseans  be  set  apart  as 
inviolable  and  consecrate,  that  they  might  sacrifice 
to  Zeus  the  Deliverer  in  behalf  of  Hellas. 

These  propositions  were  ratified,  and  the  Plataeans2 
undertook  to  make  funeral  offerings  annually  for  the 
Hellenes  who  had  fallen  in  battle  and  lay  buried 
there.  And  this  they  do  yet  unto  this  day,  after  the 
following  manner.  On  the  sixteenth  of  the  month 
Maimacterion  (which  is  the  Boeotian  Alalcomenius), 
they  celebrate  a  procession.  This  is  led  forth  at  break 
of  day  by  a  trumpeter  sounding  the  signal  for  battle  ; 
waggons  follow  filled  with  myrtle-wreaths,  then  comes 
a  black  bull,  then  free-born  youths  carrying  libations 
of  wine  and  milk  in  amphorce,  and  jars  of  oil  and  3 
myrrh  (no  slave  may  put  hand  to  any  part  of  that 
ministration,  because  the  men  thus  honored  died  for 
freedom)  ;  and  following  all,  the  chief  magistrate  of 
Platsea,  who  may  not  at  other  times  touch  iron  or 
put  on  any  other  raiment  than  white,  at  this  time  is 


160  ARISTIDES 

robed  in  a  purple  tunic,  carries  on  high  a  water-jar 
from  the  city's  archive  chamber,  and  proceeds,  sword 
in  hand,  through  the  midst  of  the  city  to  the  graves ; 
4  there  he  takes  water  from  the  sacred  spring,  washes 
off  with  his  own  hands  the  gravestones,  and  anoints 
them  with  myrrh ;  then  he  slaughters  the  bull  at  the 
funeral  pyre,  and,  with  prayers  to  Zeus  and  Hermes 
Terrestrial,  summons  the  brave  men  who  died  for 
Hellas  to  come  to  the  banquet  and  its  copious 
draughts  of  blood ;  next  he  mixes  a  mixer  of  wine, 
drinks,  and  then  pours  a  libation  from  it,  saying 
these  words :  "  I  drink  to  the  men  who  died  for  the 
freedom  of  the  Hellenes." 

These  rites,  I  say,  are  observed  by  the  Plataeans 
down  to  this  very  day. 

XXII.  After  the  Athenians  returned  to  their  own 
city,  Aristides  saw  that  they  desired  to  receive  the 
more  popular  form  of  government.  He  thought  the 
Aristides  people  worthy  of  consideration  because  of 

moves  for  a     . 

more  demo-   its  sturdy  valor,  and  he  saw  also  that  it 

mTnis'tration    WaS    n°  longer   6aSy  to   be    f°rCed  °ut  °f    its 

of  Athens ;    desires,  since  it  was  powerful  in  arms,  and 

the  people 

trust  him.  greatly  elated  by  its  victories.  So  he  in- 
troduced a  decree  that  the  administration  of  the  city 
be  the  privilege  of  all  classes,  and  that  the  archons 
be  chosen  from  all  the  Athenians. 
2  Themistocles  once  declared  to  the  people  that 
he  had  devised  a  certain  measure  which  could  not 
be  revealed  to  them,  though  it  would  be  helpful 
and  salutary  for  the  city,  and  they  ordered  that 
Aristides  alone  should  hear  what  it  was  and  pass 


ATHENS  WINS  THE  LEADERSHIP  161 

judgment  on  it.  So  Themistocles  told  Aristides  that 
his  purpose  was  to  burn  the  naval  station  of  the  con- 
federate Hellenes,  for  that  in  this  way  the  Athenians 
would  be  greatest  and  lords  of  all.  Then  Aristides 
came  before  the  people  and  said  of  the  deed  which 
Themistocles  purposed  to  do,  that  none  other  could 
be  more  advantageous,  and  none  more  unjust.  On 
hearing  this,  the  Athenians  ordained  that  Themis- 
tocles cease  from  his  purpose.  So  fond  of  justice 
was  the  people,  and  so  firmly  did  the  people  trust 
in  Aristides. 

XXIII.  When  he  was  sent  out  as  general  along 
with  Cimon  to  prosecute  the  war,  and  saw  that 
Pausanias  and  the  other  Spartan  com-  Aristides  is 
manders  were  offensive  and  severe  to  the 


of  winning 

allies,  he  made  his  own  intercourse  with  the 


them  gentle  and  humane,  and  induced 
Cimon  to  be  on  easy  terms  with  them  and  for  Athens- 
to  take  an  actual  part  hi  their  campaigns,  so  that, 
before  the  Lacedaemonians  were  aware,  not  by  means 
of  hoplites  or  ships  or  horsemen,  but  by  tact  and 
diplomacy  he  had  stripped  them  of  the  leadership. 
For,  well  disposed  as  the  Hellenes  were  toward  the 
Athenians  on  account  of  the  justice  of  Aristides  and 
the  reasonableness  of  Cimon,  they  were  made  to  long 
for  their  supremacy  still  more  by  the  rapacity  of 
Pausanias  and  his  severity. 

The  commanders  of  the  allies  ever  met  with  angry  2 
harshness  at  the  hands  of  Pausanias,  and  the  common 
men  he  punished  with  stripes,  or  by  compelling  them 

to  stand  all  day  long  with  an  iron  anchor  on  their 

11 


162  ARISTIDES 

shoulders.  No  one  could  get  bedding  or  fodder  or  go 
down  to  a  spring  for  water  before  the  Spartans,  nay, 
their  servants  armed  with  goads  would  drive  away  such 
as  approached.  On  these  grounds  Aristides  once  had 
it  in  mind  to  chide  and  admonish  him,  but  Pausanias 
scowled,  said  he  was  busy,  and  would  not  listen. 

3  Subsequently   the   captains   and   generals   of   the 
Hellenes,   and   especially  the  Chians,   Samians  and 
Lesbians,  came  to  Aristides  and   tried  to  persuade 
him  to  assume  the  leadership  and  bring  over  to  his 
support  the  allies,  who  had  long  wanted  to  be  rid  of 
the  Spartans  and  to  range  themselves  anew  on  the 
side  of  the  Athenians.     He  replied  that  he  saw  the 
urgency  and  the  justice  of  what  they  proposed,  but 
that  to  establish  Athenian  confidence  in  them  some 
overt  act   was  needed,  the   doing  of   which  would 
-make  it  impossible  for  the  multitude  to  change  their 
allegiance  back  again. 

4  So  Uliades  the  Samian  and  Antagoras  the  Chian 
conspired   together,  and   ran   down   the   trireme  of 
Pausanias  off  Byzantium,  closing  in  on  both  sides  of 
it  as  it  was  putting  out  before  the  line.     When  Pau- 
sanias saw  what  they  had  done,  he  sprang  up  and 
wrathfully  threatened  to  show  the  world  in  a  little 
while  that  these  men  had  run  down  not  so  much  his 
ship  as  their  own  native  cities;  but  they  bade  him 
be  gone,  and  be  grateful  to  that  fortune  which  fought 
in  his  favor  at  Plataea ;  it  was  because  the  Hellenes 
still  stood  in  awe  of  this,  they  said,  that  they  did 
not   punish  him  as  he  deserved.     And  finally  they 
went  off  and  joined  the  Athenians. 


ASSESSMENT  OF  THE   ALLIES  163 

Then  indeed  was  the  lofty  wisdom  of  the  Spartans 
made  manifest  in  a  wonderful  way.  When  they  saw 
that  their  commanders  were  corrupted  by  the  great 
powers  intrusted  to  them,  they  voluntarily  abandoned 
the  leadership  and  ceased  sending  out  generals  for  the 
war,  choosing  rather  to  have  their  citizens  discreet 
and  true  to  their  ancestral  customs  than  to  have  the 
sway  over  all  Hellas. 

XXIV.  The  Hellenes  used  to  pay  a  sort  of  con- 
tribution for  the  war  even  while  the  Lacedaemonians 

had  the  leadership,  but  now  they  wished  The  assess- 
ment made 
to  be  assessed  equably  city  by  city.     So  by  Aristides. 

they  asked  the  Athenians  for  Aristides,  and  com- 
missioned him  to  inspect  their  several  territories  and 
revenues,  and  then  to  fix  the  assessments  according 
to  each  member's  worth  and  ability  to  pay. 

And  yet,  though  he  became  master  of  such  power,  2 
and  though  after  a  fashion  Hellas  put  all  her  property 
in  his  sole  hands,  poor  as  he  was  when  he  went  forth 
on  this  mission,  he  came  back  from  it  poorer  still, 
and  he  made  his  assessments  of  moneys  not  only  with 
purity  and  justice,  but  also  to  the  grateful  satisfac- 
tion and  convenience  of  all  concerned.  Indeed,  as 
men  of  old  hymned  the  praises  of  the  age  of  Cronus, 
—  the  golden  age,  —  so  did  the  allies  of  the  Athe- 
nians praise  the  tariff  of  Aristides,  calling  it  a  kind 
of  blessed  happening  for  Hellas,  especially  as,  after  a 
short  time,  it  was  doubled  and  then  again  trebled. 

For  the  tax  which  Aristides  laid  amounted  to  four  s 
hundred  and  sixty  talents  only;   but  Pericles  must 
have  added  almost  a  third  to  this,  since  Thucydides 


164  ARISTIDES 

says  that  when  the  war  began  the  Athenians  had  a 
revenue  of  six  hundred  talents  from  their  allies.  And 
after  the  death  of  Pericles  the  demagogues  enlarged  it 
little  by  little,  and  at  last  brought  the  sum  total  up 
to  thirteen  hundred  talents,  not  so  much  because  the 
war,  by  reason  of  its  length  and  vicissitudes,  became 
extravagantly  expensive,  as  because  they  themselves 
led  the  people  off  into  the  distribution  of  public 
moneys  for  spectacular  entertainments,  and  for  the 
erection  of  images  and  sanctuaries. 
4  So  then  Aristides  had  a  great  and  admirable  name 
for  his  adjustment  of  the  revenues.  But  Themistocles 
is  said  to  have  ridiculed  him,  claiming  that  the  praise 
he  got  therefor  was  not  fit  for  a  man,  but  rather  for 
a  mere  money-wallet.  He  came  off  second  best,  how- 
ever, in  this  retort  upon  the  plain  speech  of  Aristides, 
who  had  remarked,  when  Themistocles  once  declared 
to  him  the  opinion  that  the  greatest  excellence  in  a 
general  was  the  anticipation  of  the  plans  of  his 
enemies  :  "  That  is  indeed  needful,  Themistocles,  but 
the  honorable  thing,  and  that  which  makes  the  real 
general,  is  his  mastery  over  his  fingers." 

XXV.  Aristides  did,  indeed,  bind  the  Hellenes  by 
an  oath,  and  took  oath  himself  for  the  Athenians, 
Conversion  solemnly  casting  iron  ingots  from  the  very 
federacyof  altars  into  the  sea  ;  but  afterwards,  when 
the'  Athenian  circumstances,  forsooth,  compelled  a  more 
Empire.  The  strenuous  sway,  he  bade  the  Athenians  lay 

poverty  of  .  •" 

the  perjury  to  his  charge,  and  turn  events 


to  their  own  advantage. 
a     And  in  general,  as  Theophrastus  tells  us,  while  the 


CALLIAS   AND   ARISTIDES  165 

man  was  strictly  just  in  his  private  relations  to  his 
fellow-citizens,  in  public  matters  he  often  acted  in 
accordance  with  the  policy  which  his  country  had 
adopted,  feeling  that  this  required  considerable  in- 
justice. For  instance,  he  says  that  when  the  question 
of  removing  the  moneys  of  the  confederacy  from  Delos 
to  Athens,  contrary  to  the  compacts,  was  being  de- 
bated at  the  instance  of  the  Samians,  Aristides  declared 
that  it  was  unjust,  but  advantageous. 

And  yet,  although  he  at  last  established  his  city  in  s 
its  sway  over  so  many  men,  he  himself  abode  by  his 
poverty,  and  continued  to  be  no  less  content  with  the 
reputation  he  got  from  being  a  poor  man,  than  with 
that  based  on  his  trophies  of  victory.  This  is  clear 
from  the  following  story. 

Callias  the  Torchbearer  was  a  kinsman  of  his.  This 
man  was  prosecuted  by  his  enemies  on  a  capital 
charge,  and  after  they  had  brought  only  moderate  ac- 
cusations against  him  within  the  scope  of  their  indict- 
ment, they  went  outside  of  it  and  appealed  to  the 
judges  as  follows:  "You  know  Aristides  the  son  of 4 
Lysimachus,"  they  said,  "  how  he  is  admired  in  Hellas ; 
what  do  you  suppose  his  domestic  circumstances  are 
when  you  see  him  entering  the  public  assembly  in 
such  a  scanty  cloak  as  that  ?  Is  it  not  likely  that 
a  man  who  shivers  in  public  goes  hungry  at  home, 
and  is  straitened  for  the  other  necessaries  of  life? 
This  man,  however,  Callias,  who  is  the  richest  man  of 
Athens  (and  his  cousin  at  that),  allows  to  suffer  want 
with  his  wife  and  children,  though  he  has  often  had 
service  of  the  man,  and  many  times  reaped  advantage 


166  ARISTIDES 

5  from  his  influence  with  you."     But  Callias,  seeing 
that  his  judges  were  very  turbulent  at  this  charge, 
and  bitterly   disposed  toward  him,  summoned  Aris- 
tides  and  demanded  his  testimony  before  the  judges 
that  though  often  proffered  aid  from  him  and  impor- 
tuned to  accept  it,  he  had  refused  it,  with  the  answer 
that  it  more  became  him  to  be  proud  of  his  poverty 
than  Callias  of  his  wealth ;  for  many  were  to  be  seen 
who  used  wealth  well  or  ill,  but  it  was  not  easy  to 
find  a  man  who  endured  poverty  with  a  noble  spirit ; 
and  those  only  should  be  ashamed  of  poverty  who 

6  could  not  be  otherwise  than  poor.     When  Aristides 
had  borne  this  witness  for  Callias,  there  was  no  one  of 
his  hearers  who  did  not  go  home  preferring  to  be  poor 
with  Aristides  rather  than  to  be  rich  with  Callias. 
This  story  is  told  by  ^Ischines  the  Socratic. 

And  Plato  maintains  that  of  all  those  who  had 
great  names  and  reputations  at  Athens,  this  man 
alone  was  worthy  of  regard.  Themistocles,  he  says, 
and  Cimon  and  Pericles,  filled  the  city  with  porches 
and  moneys  and  no  end  of  nonsense ;  but  Aristides 
squared  his  politics  with  virtue. 

7  There  are  also  strong  proofs  of  his  reasonableness 
to  be  seen  in  his  treatment  of  Themistocles.     This 
man  he  had  found  to  be  his  foe  during  almost  all  his 
public  service,  and  it  was  through  this  man  that  he 
was  ostracized ;  but  when  Themistocles  came  to  the 
same  pass,  and  when  he  was  under  accusation  of 
treason   before   the   city,   Aristides   remembered   no 
evil;  nay,  though  Alcmeon   and  Cimon  and  many 
others  denounced  and  persecuted  the  man,  Aristides 


HIS   DEATH  167 

alone  did  and  said  no  meanness,  nor  did  he  take  any 
advantage  of  his  enemy's  misfortune,  just  as  formerly 
he  did  not  grudge  him  his* prosperity. 

XXVI.  As  touching  the  death  of  Aristides,  some 
say  he  died  in  Pontus,  on  an  expedition  in  the  pub- 
lic service ;  others  at  Athens,  of  old  age,  Death  of 
honored  and  admired  by  his  countrymen.  Aristides- 
But  Craterus  the  Macedonian  tells  something  like 
this  about  the  death  of  the  man.  After  the  exile 
of  Themistocles,  he  says,  the  people  waxed  wanton, 
as  it  were,  and  produced  a  great  crop  of  sycophants, 
who  hounded  down  the  noblest  and  most  influential 
men,  and  subjected  them  to  the  malice  of  the  mul- 
titude, now  exalted  with  its  prosperity  and  power. 
Among  these  he  says  that  Aristides  also  was  con- 2 
victed  of  bribery,  on  prosecution  of  Diophantus  of 
the  deme  Amphitrope*,  for  having  taken  money  from 
the  lonians  when  he  was  regulating  the  tributes ; 
and,  further,  that  being  unable  to  pay  the  judgment, 
which  was  fifty  mince,  he  sailed  away  and  died  some- 
where in  Ionia.  But  Craterus  furnishes  no  docu- 
mentary proof  of  this,  —  no  judgment  of  the  court, 
no  decree  of  indictment,  —  although  he  is  wont  to 
record  such  things  with  all  due  fulness,  and  to  adduce 
his  authorities. 

All  the  rest,  as  I  may  venture  to  say,  —  all  who  3 
rehearse  the  shortcomings  of  the  people  in  dealing 
with  their  leaders,  —  compile  and  descant  upon  the 
exile  of  Themistocles,  the  imprisonment  of  Miltiades, 
the  fine  of  Pericles,  the  death  of  Paches  in  the  court 
room,  —  he  slew  himself  on  the  rostrum  when  he 


168  ARISTIDES 

saw  that  he  was  convicted,  —  and  many  such  a  case, 
and  they  put  into  the  list  the  ostracism  of  Aristides, 
but  of  such  a  condemnation  as  this  for  bribery  they 
make  no  mention  whatsoever. 

XXVII.  Moreover,  his  tomb  is  pointed  out  at 
Phalerum,  and  they  say  the  city  constructed  it  for 
His  burial  mm>  since  he  did  not  leave  enough  to  pay 
and  posterity.  for  fas  funeral.  And  they  teU  how  his 
daughters  were  married  from  the  prytaneium  at  the 
public  cost,  the  city  bestowing  the  dowry  for  the 
marriage  and  voting  outright  three  thousand  drachmas 
to  each  daughter,  while  to  Lysimachus  his  son,  the 
people  gave  one  hundred  mince  in  silver,  as  many 
acres  of  vineyard  land,  and  besides  this  a  pension  of 
four  drachmas  per  diem,  —  all  in  a  bill  which  was 
brought  in  by  Alcibiades. 

2  And  further,  Lysimachus  left  a  daughter,  Poly- 
crit(3,  according  to  Callisthenes,  and  the  people  voted 
for  her  a  public  maintenance,  in  the  style  of  their 
Olympic  victors. 

Again,  Demetrius  the  Phalerean,  Hieronymus  the 
Rhodian,  Aristoxenus  the  Musician,  and  Aristotle 
(provided  the  book  "  On  Nobility  of  Birth  "  is  to  be 
ranked  among  the  genuine  works  of  Aristotle)  relate 
that  Myrto,  the  granddaughter  of  Aristides,  lived 
in  wedlock  with  Socrates  the  Sage.  He  had  another 
woman  to  wife,  but  took  this  one  up  because  her 
poverty  kept  her  a  widow,  and  she  lacked  the  neces- 
saries of  life.  To  these,  however,  Panoetius,  in  his 
work  on  Socrates,  has  made  sufficient  reply. 

s     And  the  Phalerean  says,  in  his  "  Socrates,"  that  he 


HIS   POSTERITY  169 

remembers  a  grandson  of  Aristides,  Lysimachus,  a 
very  poor  man,  who  made  a  living  by  means  of  a  sort 
of  dream-interpreting  tablet,  his  seat  being  near  the 
so-called  laccheium.  To  this  man's  mother  and  to 
her  sister  he  persuaded  the  people  to  give,  by  formal 
decree,  a  pension  of  three  obols  per  diem;  though 
afterwards,  in  his  capacity  of  sole  legislator,  he  him- 
self assigned  a  drachma  instead  of  three  obols  to 
each  of  the  women. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  people  took  4 
such  thought  for  families  in  the  city,  since  on  learn- 
ing that  the  granddaughter  of  Aristogeiton  was  liv- 
ing humbly  in  Lemnos,  unmarried  because  of  her 
poverty,  they  brought  her  back  to  Athens,  consorted 
her  with  a  well-born  man,  and  gave  her  the  estate 
in  Potamus  for  her  dowry.  For  such  humanity  and 
benevolence,  of  which  the  city  still  gives  illustrious 
examples  even  in  my  own  day,  she  is  justly  •  ad- 
mired and  lauded. 


NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES 


NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES 

I.  1.  It  is  probable  that  the  opening  sentences  of  this  Life 
have  been  lost.  We  may  safely  infer  that  they  gave  a  gen- 
eral introduction  to  this  book  (or  pair)  of  Parallel  Lives,  the 
Themistodes  and  Camillus,  and  the  reasons  for  thus  pairing 
them,  exactly  as  Plutarch  did  in  the  opening  chapters  of  the 
Cimon  and  Lucullus,  the  next  book  in  the  series  to  be  writ- 
ten. The  first  book  in  the  series  was  probably  the  Epami- 
nondas  and  Scipio  Major,  the  loss  of  which  we  especially 
lament,  not  only  because  Plutarch  shows  great  love  and  ad- 
miration for  Epaminondas,  whom  he  regarded,  with  fond 
Boeotian  patriotism,  as  the  greatest  Hellene,  but  particularly 
because  he  undoubtedly  opened  the  book  with  a  general  in- 
troduction to  the  whole  series. 

The  question  of  the  genuinenesss  of  the  formal  "Com- 
parisons," which  close  eighteen  of  the  twenty-two  books 
of  Parallel  Lives,  is  not,  perhaps,  an  open  one;  but  there 
can  be  no  question  that  when  more  or  less  elaborate  com- 
parisons between  the  subjects  chosen  for  biography  are 
drawn  out  in  the  introduction,  as  in  the  Cimon  and  Lucullus, 
or  the  Phocion  and  Cato,  they  render  such  formal  compari- 
sons at  the  close  superfluous.  We  do  not  miss  the  formal 
comparison  which  we  do  not  find  at  the  close  of  the  Plwcion 
and  Cato,  and  we  do  not  need,  nor  do  we  gam  perceptibly 
by,  the  formal  comparisons  at  the  close  of  the  Cimon  and 
Lucullus  and  of  the  ten  other  books  or  pairs  of  Lives  which, 
like  that,  have  an  all-sufficient  comparison  made  in  the 
introduction,  and  one  of  far  higher  artistic  form. 

Such  an  introductory  comparison  probably  preceded  the 
sentence  which  now  opens  the  Themistodes,  —  a  sentence 
contrasting  the  comparatively  obscure  birth  of  Themistodes 


174  NOTES   ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES          [L  i- 

with  the  more  illustrious  birth  of  Camillas,  to  match  whom 
Plutarch  had  chosen  Themistocles.  For  the  introductions 
to  the  Cimon  and  Lucullus,  and  to  the  Demosthenes  and 
Cicero,  not  to  mention  considerations  of  a  general  nature, 
make  it  plain  that  Plutarch  usually  selected  his  great  Roman 
first  for  biography,  and  then  his  great  Greek  to  match. 

Neocles :  Herodotus  (viL  143)  introduces  Themistocles  into 
his  great  story  thus :  "  Now  there  was  a  certain  Athenian, 
recently  come  into  prominence,  whose  name  was  Themisto- 
cles, and  that  of  his  father,  Neocles."  Comparative  obscurity 
of  birth  is  clearly  implied.  See  the  note  on  x.  2. 

A  Phrearrhian  by  deme :  after  the  expulsion  of  the  "  ty- 
rants "  in  510  B.  c.,  and  the  democratic  reforms  of  Cleisthenes, 
Attica,  with  its  area  of  about  seven  hundred  square  miles, 
was  divided  into  one  hundred  or  more  districts,  of  which 
the  ten  comprising  the  actual  city  of  Athens  corresponded 
closely  to  the  American  "  ward,"  the  others  to  the  New  Eng- 
land "  township,"  and  both  to  the  English  "  parish."  To  one 
of  these  districts,  or  demes,  every  citizen  of  Athens,  i.  e.  every 
free-born  inhabitant  of  Attica,  belonged. 

There  were  also  ten  tribes,  each  made  up  of  a  number  of 
widely  separated  demes.  The  names  of  these  tribes,  derived 
from  those  of  certain  heroes  and  mythical  personages,  were 
Erechthels,  ^Egels,  Pandionis,  Leontis,  Acamantis,  (Enels 
Cecropis,  Hippothoontis,  Aiantis,  and  Antiopis.  On  this 
division  into  tribes  much  of  the  machinery  of  the  Athenian 
constitution  was  based. 

An  Athenian  citizen,  then,  was  individualized  first  by  his 
own  name,  then  by  that  of  his  father,  then  of  his  deme,  and 
then  of  his  tribe.  Thus :  Themistocles,  the  son  of  Neocles,  of 
the  deme  Phrearrhi,  of  the  tribe  Leontis.  Plutarch  is  our  sole 
authority  for  the  deme  and  tribe  of  Themistocles  (e/.  c.  v.  3, 
and  Aristides,  v.  2),  but  he  evidently  had  documentary  evi- 
dence of  high  value.  See  the  Introduction,  p.  42  (Craterus). 

An  alien:  i.  e.  not  fully  Athenian  bom.  Under  Solon's 
legislation  both  parents  must  be  Athenians  to  give  the  child 
the  fullest  rights  of  citizenship,  though  the  law  was  not 


-1.2]          NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES          175 

always  enforced  with  the  same  strictness.  Cleisthenes 
restored  aliens  to  full  rights  of  citizenship.  Cimon's  mother 
was  a  Thracian  princess  (Plutarch's  Cimon,  iv.  1).  Pericles, 
in  451,  restored  the  law  of  Solon  to  force. 

Epitaph :  the  evidently  famous  epigram  which  Plutarch 
here  cites  is  probably  of  late,  and  certainly  of  unknown 
origin.  It  can  be  traced  through  Athenaeus  (xiii.  p.  576 
C)  to  Amphicrates,  an  Athenian  rhetorician  of  dubious 
character  and  perverse  literary  style,  who  died  in  exile 
(about  70  B.  c.)  at  the  court  of  Tigranes  and  Cleopatra,  as 
Plutarch  tells  us  in  his  Lucullus,  xxii,  going  out  of  his  way 
to  do  so  "  for  the  sake  of  Athens." 

That  the  name  "  Abrotonon,"  at  least,  if  not  the  epigram, 
was  well  known  in  Plutarch's  time,  is  clear  also  from  his 
Amatorius,  c.  ix.  (Morals,  p.  753  D) :  "  But,  you  will  say, 
since  it  may  be  a  man's  misfortune  to  be  so  hampered  "  (i.  e. 
by  a  shrewish  wife),  "  would  it  not  be  better  to  marry  some 
Thracian  Abrotonon  or  some  Milesian  Bacchis,  whom  he  can 
get  in  the  market  for  money  and  a  handful  of  nuts  ? " 

In  Greek  sepulchral  inscriptions,  the  dead  are  often  repre- 
sented speaking  to  the  passer-by  in  the  first  person. 

I.  2.  Phanias,  Neanthes:  for  these  historians,  and  Plu- 
tarch's indebtedness  to  them,  see  the  Introduction,  pp.  43, 46. 

The  truth  probably  is  that  nothing  whatever  was  handed 
down  and  surely  known  about  the  mother  of  Themistocles. 
The  fact  that  Themistocles  was  Archon  Eponymous  at  Athens 
makes  it  likely  that  he  was  a  full  citizen.     It  was  the  mali- 1 
cious  ingenuity  of  late  tradition  that  made  him  an  alien,  and  \\ 
invented  these  conflicting  details  about  his  mother. 

Cynosarges :  there  were  two  other  famous  gymnasia  out- 
side the  walls  of  the  city,  —  the  Academy,  and  the  Lyceium. 
The  Greek  gymnasia  comprised  features  of  the  modern  park, 
library,  club,  and  gymnasium  (in  the  narrow  sense  of  a  place 
for  physical  exercise). 

He  is  thought :  i.  e.  by  those  who  tell  the  story.  Plutarch 
probably  gets  it  from  Phanias.  It  has  not  the  slightest  claim 
to  belief. 


176  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMIS TOCLES  [I.a- 

I.  3.   Lycomidee :  a  priestly  family,  which  enjoyed  privi- 
leges and  functions  at  the  great  Eleusinian  Mysteries.    They 
probably  cultivated  the  worship  of  Demeter,  the  great  deity 
at  Eleusis,  in  this  chapel-shrine  at  Phlya  also.     Phlya  was  a 
deme  of  the  Mesogsea,  or  midland  district  of  Attica,  east  of 
Athens. 

Sirnonides  has  stated:  perhaps  in  the  great  Salamis- 
hymn  from  which  Plutarch  quotes  distinct  laudation  of 
Themistocles  in  c.  xv.  2,  though  Bergk  is  confident  that  it 
was  in  an  "epigram  composed  by  order  of  Themistocles" 
(Poet.  Lyr.  Grccci,  iii  p.  529),  presumably  an  inscription 
made  in  the  shrine  itself.  At  any  rate  it  is  contemporary 
evidence  of  the  highest  order  for  the  pious  liberality  of 
Themistocles,  whether  it  establishes  his  kinship  to  the 
Lycomidae  or  not.  See  the  Introduction,  p.  29. 

Plutarch  clearly  thinks  of  Themistocles,  in  spite  of  this 
last  item,  as  of  comparatively  humble  birth  and  slender 
means.  And  this  would  seem  to  be  the  impression  made 
by  all  the  best  contemporary  evidence,  and  by  the  testi- 
mony, direct  and  indirect,  of  Herodotus  and  Thucydides. 
Themistocles  was  of  obscure,  but  not  ignoble  origin.  This 
is  all  that  need  be  meant  by  the  epithet  of  "generosus" 
which  Nepos  applies  to  him.  In  the  Comparison  of  Aris- 
tides  and  Cato  Plutarch  speaks  of  Themistocles  as  "  neither 
of  brilliant  lineage  nor  of  great  possessions  "  (c.  L). 

II.  1.   Sagacious :    sagacity,   or  "  acuteness,"  as   Jowett 
translates  the  Greek  word,  is  the  native  quality  of  Themis- 
tocles on  which  Thucydides  lays  most  stress  in  his  noble 
eulogy  of  the  man  (L  138) :  "  For  Themistocles  was  a  man 
whose  natural  force  was  unmistakable ;  this  was  the  quality 
for  which  he  was  distinguished  above  all  other  men ;  from 
his  own  native   acuteness,  and  without  any  study  either 
before   or  at  the  time,  he  was  the  ablest  judge   of  the 
course  to  be  pursued   in  a  sudden  emergency,  and   could 
best  divine  what  was   likely  to  happen   in  the  remotest 
future."     This  is  the  protest  of  the  great  historian  against 
the  claims  of  Herodotus,  Stesimbrotus,  and  the  paid  teachers 


-II.  3]          NOTES   ON  THE    THEMIS TOCLES  177 

of  "wisdom"  at  Athens,  that  the  wisdom  of  Themistocles 
was  acquired  from  this,  that,  or  the  other  teacher. 

II.  2.  Showed  indifference :  after  the  best  manuscript 
and  the  Sintenis  (Teubner)  text;  the  Bekker  (Tauchnitz) 
text  corrects  to  mean  "  showed  attentiveness." 

II.  3.  The  taunt  of  Themistocles  for  lack  of  elegant  cul- 
ture, and  his  retort,  is  the  only  material  in  the  whole  chapter 
which  can  be  with  any  safety  regarded  as  authentic.  This 
can  be  traced  back  to  Ion  of  Chios,  a  brilliant  contemporary 
of  Sophocles  and  Pericles,  though  younger  than  they.  See 
the  Introduction,  p.  31.  Plutarch  quotes  the  story  freely 
from  Ion  in  the  Cimon,  ix.:  "Ion  says  that  on  coming,  a 
mere  youth,  from  Chios  to  Athens,  he  dined  with  Cimon  at 
the  house  of  Laomedon,  and  that  after  eating  was  over  and 
drinking  had  begun  "  (i.  e.  after  the  cloth  had  been  removed), 
"the  hero  was  invited  to  sing,  and  did  so  very  agreeably, 
and  was  praised  by  the  guests  as  a  more  cultured  man  than 
Themistocles,  who  declared  that  he  had  not  learned  to  sing, 
much  less  to  play  the  zither,  but  understood  how  to  make  a 
city  great  and  rich."  By  the  phrase  "  he  knows  not  how  to  play 
the  zither,"  in  his  Wasps,  959,  Aristophanes  characterizes  a 
good  plain  man  who  knows  how  to  read  and  write,  but  has 
no  elegant  accomplishments.  The  comedy  was  given  in 
422  B.C. 

This  story,  then,  may  well  be  taken  to  prove  that  Themis- 
tocles did  not  have  what  afterwards  became  the  fashionable 
education  at  Athens,  and  on  the  basis  of  this  fact  the  details 
about  his  school  days,  like  those  in  the  first  two  paragraphs 
of  this  chapter,  were  probably  invented. 

Stesimbrotus :  see  the  Introduction,  pp.  32  f.  The  testi- 
mony is  malignant,  connecting  the  arch-traitor  Themistocles 
with  arch-atheists.  For  both  Anaxagoras  and  Melissus  would 
be  ranked  as  atheists  by  the  readers  whom  Stesimbrotus  tried 
to  please. 

Anaxagoras:  a  native  of  Clazomenae  in  Ionian  Asia 
Minor.  He  was  born  about  500  B.  c.,  and  came  to  Athens 
about  460,  not  far  from  the  time  of  Themistocles'  death  in 

12 


178  NOTES   ON  THE    THE^fISTOCLES          [II. 3- 

Magnesia.  He  had  great  influence  on  advanced  thinkers  in 
Athens  like  Pericles  and  Euripides,  but  was  so  unpopular  with 
the  common  thinkers  that  the  enemies  of  Pericles  easily  got 
him  banished  about  430,  and  he  died  at  Lampsacus  in  428. 
Among  many  curious  speculations  about  physical  phenom- 
ena, two  of  his  doctrines  wonderfully  anticipated  some  of 
the  noblest  phases  of  modern  thought :  the  doctrine  of  the 
"Nous,"  or  Intelligence,  as  disposer  and  cause  of  all  the 
movements  of  eternal  matter ;  and  the  doctrine  of  "  rotation," 
in  consequence  of  which  the  heavenly  bodies  were  separated 
from  the  mass  of  matter,  and  took  up  their  orbits  of  motion 
(our  "  Nebular  Hypothesis  ").  "  Whatever  things  were  to  be, 
and  whatever  things  were,  as  many  as  are  now,  and  whatever 
things  shall  be,  all  these  Mind  arranged  in  order ;  and  it  arranged 
that  rotation,  according  to  which  now  rotate  stars  and  sun  and 
moon  and  air  and  aether,  now  that  they  are  separated.  Rota- 
tion itself  caused  the  separation  "  (Fragment  6,  in  Fairbanks, 
First  Philosophers  of  Greece,  p.  241).  Plato  makes  his 
Socrates  say  (Phcedo,  97  C)  :  "Then  I  heard  some  one  who 
had  a  book  of  Anaxagoras,  as  he  said,  out  of  which  he  read 
that  mind  was  the  disposer  and  cause  of  all,  and  I  was  quite 
delighted  at  this  notion,  which  appeared  admirable."  Socrates 
goes  on,  however,  to  accuse  Anaxagoras  of  inconsistency  in 
the  application  of  his  theory.  Another  reference  of  the  Pla- 
tonic Socrates  to  Anaxagoras  is  more  familiar  (Apology,  26 
D),  when,  in  reply  to  his  accuser  Meletus,  who  has  assured 
the  judges  that  Socrates  does  not  believe  in  the  godhead  of 
the  sun  and  moon,  but  says  that  the  sun  is  stone,  and  the 
moon  earth,  Socrates  is  made  to  say :  "  Friend  Meletus,  you 
think  that  you  are  accusing  Anaxagoras ;  and  you  have  but 
a  bad  opinion  of  the  judges,  if  you  fancy  them  ignorant  to 
such  a  degree  as  not  to  know  that  these  doctrines  are  found 
in  the  books  of  Anaxagoras  the  Clazomenian,  who  is  full  of 
them.  And  these  are  the  doctrines  which  the  youth  are  said 
to  learn  of  Socrates,  when  there  are  not  unfrequently  exhibi- 
tions of  them  at  the  theatre  (price  of  admission  one  drachma 
at  the  most)  ;  and  they  might  cheaply  purchase  them,  and 


-II.  3]          NOTES   ON   THE  THEMISTOCLES  179 

laugh  at  Socrates  if  he  pretends  to  father  such  remarkable 
views." 

Melissus  the  physicist :  a  native  of  Samos.  He  was  a 
disciple  of  the  great  pantheistic  philosopher  Parmenides,  and, 
like  him,  denied  the  validity  of  all  evidence  of  the  senses. 

In  440  B.C.,  Samos  revolted  from  Athens,  and  Pericles 
went  out  with  a  large  fleet  to  subdue  the  island,  and  prevent 
other  members  of  the  league  from  joining  in  her  revolt.  The 
Samian  fleet  was  defeated,  and  the  city  invested  by  land  and 
blockaded  by  sea.  During  a  temporary  absence  of  Pericles, 
however,  with  part  of  the  blockading  fleet,  "the  Samians 
made  a  sudden  sally,  and  attacking  the  naval  station  of  the 
Athenians,  which  was  unprotected,  destroyed  the  guard-ships 
and  engaged  and  defeated  the  other  vessels  which  put  out 
to  meet  them.  During  some  fourteen  days  they  were 
masters  of  the  sea  about  their  own  coasts,  and  carried  in  and 
out  whatever  they  pleased.  But  when  Pericles  returned, 
they  were  again  closely  blockaded.  .  .  .  The  Samians  made 
a  feeble  attempt  at  a  sea-fight,  but  soon  they  were  unable  to 
resist,  and  after  nine  months  were  forced  to  surrender" 
(Tkucydides,  i.  116,  117). 

Plutarch  makes  Melissus  the  commander  of  this  "  sudden 
sally "  of  the  Samians  (Pericles,  xxvi.  1),  and  quotes  Aris- 
totle as  his  authority  for  a  previous  defeat  of  Pericles  himself 
by  the  same  "  philosopher  then  commanding  Samos."  There 
is  no  good  reason  to  doubt  this  testimony  of  Plutarch,  espe- 
cially as  he  cites  Aristotle  again  (Pericles,  xxviii.  1)  as  one 
of  his  authorities  for  this  Samian  war,  besides  Thucydides, 
Ephorus,  and  Duris  of  Samos  (see  the  Introduction,  pp.  35, 
39,  44). 

Careless  in  chronology:  technically,  this  objection  of 
Plutarch  does  not  hold,  as  it  is,  of  course,  possible  that 
Themistocles  came  into  contact  with  both  Anaxagoras  and 
Melissus  during  his  exile  in  Asia  Minor;  but  in  the  main 
issue  it  is  valid.  "  Pupil "  or  "  disciple  "  of  either,  in  the  sense 
in  which  Stesimbrotus  used  the  words,  Themistocles  cannot 
have  been.  The  purpose  of  the  statement  was  malicious. 


180  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES          [II.  4- 

II.  4.  Mnesiphilus  the  Phrearrhian :  in  Herodotus  (viiL 
57,  58),  he  is  simply  Mnesiphilus  "an  Athenian."  After 
Themistocles  had  been  driven  by  his  enemies  to  take  refuge 
at  the  Persian  court,  all  his  previous  history  received  a  new 
interpretation  at  the  hands  of  those  who  hated  him.  Even 
his  greatest  achievements  were  belittled,  and  his  credit  for 
them  diminished.  Thus,  the  decision  of  the  allied  fleet  to 
make  their  sea-fight  at  Salamis  rather  than  the  Isthmus,  a 
decision  universally  recognized  as  the  main  cause  of  the 
glorious  victory  over  the  Persians,  was  due,  according  to  the 
malicious  version  of  affairs  popular  at  Athens  when  Herodo- 
tus wrote,  not  to  Themistocles,  in  the  first  instance,  but  to 
an  adviser  of  his,  Mnesiphilus,  a  shadowy,  if  not  a  fictitious 
personage.  To  this  malicious  story  of  Herodotus,  as  well  as 
to  the  charges  of  Stesimbrotus,  Thucydides  probably  had 
reference  in  the  passage  cited  above  on  iL  1.  As  philosophi- 
cal schools  developed  and  multiplied  at  Athens,  and  the 
traditions  of  learning  became  more  and  more  formal,  the 
temptation  was  irresistible  to  assign  a  man  of  such  marvel- 
lous powers  as  Themistocles  to  some  school  or  sect  of  phi- 
losophy. A  passage  in  the  Memorabilia  of  Xenophon  (iv.  2, 2) 
shows  that  it  was  a  favorite  theme  for  debate  among  the 
young  men  of  the  schools  whether  Themistocles  won  his 
pre-eminence  through  intercourse  with  some  "  sophist,"  or  by 
virtue  of  his  native  endowments. 

Either  Plutarch  himself,  a  pupil  of  an  Athenian  philos- 
opher, or  some  authority  unknown  to  us  whom  he  is  here 
using,  conceived  the  happy  idea  of  constructing  a  sect  for 
Themistocles  (who  antedated  sects  and  schools  at  Athens) 
out  of  the  Herodotean  Mnesiphilus  and  Solon  the  "Wise.  In 
the  Morals,  p.  795  C  (  Whether  an  Aged  Man  ought  to  meddle 
in  State  Affairs,  c.  xxiiL),  Plutarch  makes  Mnesiphilus  a 
reformer  of  the  wayward  and  ill-famed  Themistocles,  as 
Aristides  was  of  Cimon ;  and  in  the  Banquet  of  the  Seven 
Wise  Men,  sometimes  attributed  to  Plutarch  (c.  x.,  =  Morals, 
p.  154  C),  Mnesiphilus  is  one  of  the  minor  guests, "  a  com- 
panion and  disciple  of  Solon." 


-III.  3]        NOTES   ON  THE    THEMIS  TOCLES  181 

II.  5.  Uneven  and  unstable:  gross  excesses  with  wine 
and  women  ("  Wein,  Weib,"  but  not  "  Gesang"  ! )  are  credited 
to  Themistocles  in  his  youth  by  Athenseus  (xii.  p.  533 ;  xiii. 
p.  576),  on  the  dubious  authority  of  Idomeneus  of  Lampsacus. 
See  the   Introduction,  p.  44.     All  such  stories  were  prob- 
ably invented  after  the  century  in  which  Themistocles  lived ; 
some  on  the  basis  of  jealousy  or  hatred  of  Themistocles  the 
man,  some  by  inference  backward  from  famous  incidents  in 
his  life.     So  the  charming  story  in  the  next  paragraph  (6) 
to  which  Plutarch  good  naturedly  flies  for  refuge  as  he  dis- 
cards the  malignant  inventions  which  would  make  Themis- 
tocles a  disinherited  matricide,  was  clearly  invented  after 
Themistocles  had  created  the  fleet  of  triremes  which  saved 
Hellas. 

III.  1.   Ariston :  also  of  Ceos,  the  home  of  the  beautiful 
Stesilaiis.     See   the   Introduction,  p.   43.     The   same  love- 
story  is  used  by  Plutarch  in  the  Aristides,  ii.  3. 

III.  3.  Still  a  young  man :  and  still  of  dissipated  habits, 
as  the  "  customary  drinking  parties  "  below  implies.  At  the 
time,  therefore,  when  Plutarch  wrote  this  life  of  Themistocles, 
a  time  when  he  was  much  more  under  the  influence  of 
Herodotus,  Thucydides,  and  contemporary  witnesses  to  the 
career  of  his  hero  than  when  he  wrote  the  much  later  life  of 
Aristides,  he  thinks  of  his  hero  as  roused  from  a  worthless 
and  aimless  life  of  youthful  dissipation  by  the  victory  of 
Marathon.  It  is  a  radically  different  conception  of  Themis- 
tocles which  he  gives  us  in  the  Aristides,  ii.-v.  Here  a 
long  period  of  political  rivalry  with  Aristides  precedes  the 
battle  of  Marathon,  and  the  rivals  fight  bravely  in  the  battle, 
and,  naturally,  side  by  side.  Herodotus,  in  his  classic  story 
of  Marathon  (vi.  102-131),  has  never  a  word  of  either  Aris- 
tides or  Themistocles,  from  which  it  may  safely  be  inferred 
that  there  was  no  authentic  tradition  in  his  time  of  their 
participation  in  the  battle.  In  the  next  century,  however, 
when  the  histories  of  Herodotus  and  Thucydides  were  re- 
written in  the  interests  of  rhetoric  and  oratory  by  Ephorus 
and  Theopompus,  an  irresistible  impulse  was  felt  to  bring 


182  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES         [TIL  3- 

the  heroes  of  Salamis  into  some  connection  with  Marathon 
also.  This  tendency  was  carried  so  far  that  the  writer  under 
whose  influence  especially  Plutarch  wrote  the  Aristides, 
—  Idomeneus  of  Lampsacus,  —  has  his  Aristides  actually 
usurp  the  role  at  Marathon  which  Herodotus  gives  to  the 
polemarch  Callimachus  (see  the  introductory  note  on  the 
Aristides,  v.).  If  Aristides  took  a  prominent  part  at  Mara- 
thon, then,  since  Themistocles  was  his  constant  rival,  The- 
mistocles  must  have  done  so  too.  Hence  the  attractive 
picture  in  the  Aristides,  v.  1,  2.  It  is  as  attractive  as  the 
picture  given  us  by  ^Elian  (  Varia  Historia,  iii.  21),  of  the 
boy  Themistocles  refusing  to  clear  the  street  for  the  tyrant 
Pisistratus,  but  no  more  authentic. 

The  earlier  attitude  of  Plutarch,  then,  toward  the  ques- 
tion when  Themistocles  began  his  great  career,  is  the  more 
correct,  and  makes  it  impossible  to  accept  the  year  493  B.  c. 
as  the  date  of  the  archonship  of  Themistocles  ( Thucydides 
L  93,  3),  but  rather  482.  See  Kenyon  and  Sandys  on 
Aristotle's  Constitution  of  Athens,  xxii. 

This  story  of  Themistocles  and  the  "  trophy  of  Miltiades  " 
is  a  great  favorite  with  Plutarch.  He  uses  it  four  times  at 
least  elsewhere,  and  later  writers  also  were  fond  of  it.  Its 
source  cannot  be  fixed,  but  it  has  necessarily  no  element  of 
malice  in  it.  Like  the  charming  story  which  closes  chapter 
ii.,  it  betrays  itself  as  invented  after  Themistocles  had  won 
Salamis. 

III.  4.  This  paragraph  may  be  regarded  as  Plutarch's 
amplification  of  Thucydides,  L  14,  3  :  "  Even  the  ships  which 
the  Athenians  built  quite  recently  at  the  instigation  of 
Themistocles,  when  they  were  at  war  with  the  ^Eginetans 
and  in  expectation  of  the  Barbarian,  —  even  these  ships  with 
which  they  fought  at  Salamis  were  not  completely  decked." 
The  italicized  words  of  Thucydides  are  plainly  controversial 
of  Herodotus,  viL  144,  1 :  "  Themistocles  had  before  this 
given  a  counsel  which  prevailed  very  seasonably.  The 
Athenians,  having  a  large  sum  of  money  in  their  treasury, 
the  produce  of  the  mines  at  Laureium,  were  about  to  share 


-IV.  i]        NOTES   ON   THE    THEMISTOCLES  183 

it  among  the  citizens,  who  would  have  received  ten  drachmas 
apiece,  when  Themistocles  persuaded  them  to  forbear  the 
distribution,  and  build  with  the  money  two  hundred  ships 
for  the  war ;  by  which  he  meant  the  war  with  the  ^yinetans. 
For  it  was  the  breaking  out  of  this  war  which  saved  Hellas 
at  that  time.  It  compelled  the  Athenians  to  become  a 
maritime  power."  The  prescience  of  Themistocles  is  belittled 
or  ignored  by  Herodotus,  affirmed  by  Thucydides,  and  upheld 
by  Plutarch,  who  has  adopted  the  Thucydidean,  as  contrasted 
with  the  Herodotean  attitude  toward  Themistocles. 

IV.  1,  2.  With  these  two  paragraphs  compare  the  cita- 
tions from  Herodotus  and  Thucydides  in  the  preceding  note. 

IV.  1.  dared :  Thucydides  emphasizes  the  courage  shown 
by  Themistocles  in  this  new  naval  policy:  "For  he  first 
dared  to  say  that '  they  must  make  the  sea  then:  domain/  and 
he  lost  no  time  in  laying  the  foundations  of  their  empire  " 

a  n  4). 

The  war  against  JEgina :  Athens  could  rise  to  her  suprem- 
acy only  by  crushing  this  "eyesore  of  the  Piraeus,"  as 
Pericles  is  said  to  have  called  it.  At  the  opening  of  the 
fifth  century  B.  c.,  ^gina  was  mistress  of  Hellenic  waters,  a 
wealthy  colonizing  state,  and  a  seat  of  art.  The  struggle 
between  this  maritime  state  and  Athens  began  as  early  as 
507  B.  c.  (Herodotus,  vi  71-93),  but  was  interrupted  by  the 
invasions  of  Darius  (Marathon)  and  Xerxes  (Salamis),  when 
the  ^Eginetans,  had  they  been  less  patriotic,  might  have  had 
powerful  foreign  aid  against  their  dangerous  rival.  "  The 
Greeks  who  were  well  affected  to  the  Grecian  cause,  having 
assembled  in  one  place  "  (the  congress  at  the  Isthmus  in  the 
spring  of  480  B.  c.),  "and  there  consulted  together,  and 
interchanged  pledges  with  each  other,  agreed  that,  before  any 
other  step  was  taken,  the  feuds  and  enmities  which  existed 
between  the  different  nations  should  first  of  all  be  appeased. 
Many  such  there  were ;  but  one  was  of  more  importance  than 
the  rest,  namely,  the  war  which  was  still  going  on  between 
the  Athenians  and  the  ^Eginetans  "  (Herodotus,  vii.  145,  1). 
The  JEginetans  furnished  thirty  ships  at  the  battle  of  Sala- 


184  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMIS TOCLES        [IV.  i- 

mis,  and  of  their  conduct  there  Herodotus  says  (viil  93,  1)  : 
"  The  Greeks  who  gained  the  greatest  glory  of  all  in  the  sea- 
fight  of  Salamis  were  the  ^Eginetans,  and  after  them  the 
Athenians."  The  final  struggle  between  Athens  and  ^Egina 
came  between  the  years  460  and  455  B.  c.,  and  ended  in  the 
complete  triumph  of  Athens.  "  The  ^Eginetans  came  to 
terms  with  the  Athenians,  dismantling  their  walls,  surren- 
dering their  ships,  and  agreeing  to  pay  tribute  for  the  future  " 
(Thucydides,  L  108,  4,  and  105,  2).  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war  in  431  B.  c.,  "  the  Athenians  expelled  the 
JEginetans  and  their  families  from  ^Egina,  alleging  that  they 
had  been  the  main  cause  of  the  war.  The  island  lies  close 
to  the  Peloponnesus,  and  they  thought  it  safer  to  send  thither 
settlers  of  their  own,  an  intention  which  they  shortly  after- 
wards carried  out"  (Thucydides,  il  27,  1).  Some  of  the 
exiles  were  given  a  home  in  Lacedaemonian  territory,  the 
rest  were  scattered  throughout  Hellas.  The  former  were 
captured  and  put  to  death  by  the  Athenians  in  424  B.  c. 
(Thucydides,  iv.  56,  57) ;  as  many  of  the  latter  as  could  be 
collected  together  were  restored  to  their  island  by  Lysander 
after  the  fall  of  Athens  in  404  (Xenophon,  Hellenica,  ii.  2, 
9),  but  the  great  spirit  of  the  little  state  was  forever  broken. 
IV.  2.  An  hundred  triremes :  Herodotus  says  two  hun- 
dred, in  the  passage  cited  on  iii.  4.  With  that  account  of 
Herodotus  it  is  interesting  to  compare  Aristotle's  version  of 
the  same  incident,  in  the  Constitution  of  Athens,  c.  rah'. :  "  In 
the  third  year  thereafter,  when  Nicodemus  was  archon " 
(i.  e.  in  484-3  B.  c.),  "  when  the  mines  in  Maroneia  "  (a  part 
of  the  mining  district,  like  Laureium)  "  were  discovered,  and 
the  city  had  a  surplus  of  an  hundred  talents  from  their  opera- 
tion, certain  ones  counselled  the  people  to  make  a  division 
of  the  money  among  themselves.  But  Themistocles  opposed 
this,  not  telling  what  use  he  was  going  to  make  of  the  sum, 
but  proposing  that  the  city  lend  to  one  hundred  of  the  richest 
Athenians  a  talent  apiece,  and  then,  should  their  expendi- 
ture of  the  money  be  satisfactory,  that  the  city  assume  the 
outlay,  but  otherwise  that  it  take  back  the  entire  sum  from 


-IV.  3]         NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  185 

the  borrowers.  He  got  the  money  on  these  terms,  and  built 
therewith  an  hundred  triremes,  each  of  the  hundred  borrowers 
building  one  trireme,  and  with  these  they  fought  the  sea- 
fight  at  Salamis  against  the  Barbarians." 

It  is  clear  that  the  oligarchical  authority  whom  Aristotle 
is  here  following  has  quite  needlessly  made  a  "  stratagem " 
on  the  part  of  Themistocles  out  of  what  was  doubtless 
straightforward  parliamentary  procedure,  as  Herodotus  has 
represented  it.  The  great  stratagem  of  Themistocles  at 
Salamis  made  later  writers  anxious  that  he  should  accom- 
plish everything  by  stratagem.  A  good  example  of  this 
tendency  will  be  seen  in  the  version  which  Clidemus 
gives  of  the  manning  of  the  Athenian  fleet  before  Salamis 
{Themistocles,  x.  4),  and  Clidemus  may  well  be  Aristotle's 
authority,  or  some  later  antiquarian  writer  basing  on  Clide- 
mus. But  Aristotle  gives  one  hundred  as  the  number  of 
the  triremes  built  by  the  measure  of  Themistocles,  agree- 
ing therein  with  Plutarch.  The  same  number  is  given  also 
by  Nepos.  It  is  undoubtedly  correct,  and  Herodotus  is  in 
error.  He  was  led  into  the  error  naturally  by  considering 
the  final  total  of  Athenian  ships  at  the  battle  of  Salamis, 
three  years  after  this  measure  of  Themistocles,  during  which 
years  also  triremes  were  undoubtedly  built. 

IV.  3.  To  quote  Plato's  words :  the  passage  referred  to 
is  in  the  Laws,  iv.,  p.  706,  where  the  Athenian  Stranger, 
hoping  that  the  ideal  state  which  he  and  his  friends  were 
constructing  would  not  be  able  to  imitate  any  maritime  enemy 
in  building  fleets,  instances  the  ancient  Athenians  harassed 
by  the  Cretan  Minos  :  "  but  he,  as  we  know,  was  a  great 
naval  potentate,  who  compelled  the  inhabitants  of  Attica  to 
pay  him  a  cruel  tribute ;  and  in  those  days  they  had  no  ships 
of  war  as  they  now.  have,  nor  was  the  country  filled  with 
ship  timber,  and  therefore  they  could  not  readily  build  them. 
Hence  neither  could  they  learn  how  to  imitate  their  enemy 
at  sea,  or  become  sailors  themselves,  and  in  this  way  directly 
repel  their  enemies.  Better  for  them  to  have  lost  many  times 
over  their  seven  youths,  than  that  forces  of  steadfast  hoplites 


186  NOTES   ON  THE   THEMIS TO  CLES         [IV.  3- 

should  have  been  turned  into  sailors,  and  accustomed  to  leap 
quickly  on  shore,  and  again  to  hurry  back  to  their  ships ;  or 
should  have  fancied  that  there  was  no  disgrace  in  not  await- 
ing the  attack  of  an  enemy  and  dying  boldly ;  and  that  there 
were  good  reasons,  and  plenty  of  them,  for  a  man  throwing 
away  his  arms,  and  betaking  himself  to  flight ;  which  is  not 
dishonorable,  as  people  say,  at  certain  times.  This  is  the 
language  of  naval  warfare,  and  is  anything  but  worthy  of 
extraordinary  praise.  For  we  should  not  teach  bad  habits, 
least  of  all  to  the  best  part  of  the  citizens." 

Plato  sees  accomplished  what  Aristides,  the  opponent  of 
the  exclusively  maritime  policy  of  Themistocles,  feared, 
namely,  the  conversion  of  a  sturdy  agricultural  people  into 
a  versatile  commercial  and  maritime  people.  If  the  ideal 
city  be  eighty  stadia  distant  from  the  sea,  and  surrounded 
by  fairly  productive  country,  so  as  to  need  no  imports,  "  then 
there  is  some  hope  that  your  citizens  may  be  virtuous :  had 
you  been  on  the  sea,  and  well  provided  with  harbors  and 
an  importing  rather  than  a  producing  country,  some  mighty 
savior  would  have  been  needed,  and  lawgivers  more  than 
mortal,  if  you  were  ever  to  have  a  chance  of  preserving  your 
state  from  degeneracy  and  discordance  of  manners.  But  there 
is  great  comfort  in  the  eighty  stadia ;  although  even  then  the 
sea  is  too  near,  especially  if,  as  you  say,  the  harbours  are  so 
good.  Still  we  must  be  satisfied.  The  sea  is  pleasant 
enough  as  a  daily  companion,  but  has  also  a  bitter  and 
brackish  quality;  filling  the  streets  with  merchants  and 
shopkeepers,  and  begetting  in  the  souls  of  men  uncertain 
and  unfaithful  ways,  —  making  the  state  unfriendly  and 
unfaithful  both  to  her  own  citizens,  and  also  to  other 
nations"  (Laws,  iv.,  pp.  704,  705). 

This  accusation :  not  taken  from  Plato ;  possibly  a  para- 
phrase of  some  comic  poet's  jibes,  or,  more  probably,  from 
Stesimbrotus. 

Opposition  of  Miltiades:  the  language  implies  parlia- 
mentary opposition.  Stesimbrotus  may  have  said  that  the 
naval  policy  of  Themistocles  was  opposed  to  the  military 


-IV.  4]        NOTES  ON  THE   THEMIS TOCLES  187 

policy  of  Miltiades,  who  won  his  fame  with  "steadfast 
hoplites,"  but  Miltiades  did  not  live  long  enough  (ob.  489 
B.  c.)  to  oppose  this  particular  measure  of  Themistocles, 
namely,  the  devotion  of  surplus  state  moneys  to  the  building 
of  triremes,  which,  more  than  all  else,  made  Athens  a  mari- 
time state.  Either  Plutarch  cites  Stesimbrotus  wrongly,  or, 
if  he  does  not,  Stesimbrotus  himself  was  wrong  (see  the 
Introduction,  pp.  32  f.). 

IV.  4.  Let  the  philosopher  investigate  :  referring  to  the 
passages  in  Plato  just  cited,  and  other  philosophical  discus- 
sions of  the  theme,  which  was  a  favorite. 

Xerxes  himself :  Plutarch  is  much  influenced  in  these 
and  the  following  words  by  the  language  which  Thucydides 
puts  into  the  mouth  of  an  Athenian  embassy,  replying  to 
malignant  attacks  upon  Athens  by  Corinthian  delegates 
to  an  assembly  of  the  allies  of  Sparta  held  in  432  B.C. 
The  history  of  Athens  is  thus  passed  in  hostile  and  loyal 
review.  "We  tell  you,"  the  Athenian  embassy  declares 
to  the  Lacedaemonian  assembly,  "that  we,  first  and  alone, 
dared  to  engage  with  the  Barbarian  at  Marathon,  and  that, 
when  he  came  again,  being  too  weak  to  defend  ourselves  by 
land,  we  and  our  whole  people  embarked  on  shipboard  and 
shared  with  the  other  Hellenes  in  the  victory  of  Salamis. 
Thereby  he  was  prevented  from  sailing  to  the  Pelopon- 
nesus and  ravaging  city  after  city;  for  against  so  mighty 
a  fleet  how  could  you  have  helped  one  another?  He 
himself  is  the  best  witness  of  our  words ;  for  when  he  was 
once  defeated  at  sea,  he  felt  that  his  power  was  gone  and 
quickly  retreated  with  the  greater  part  of  his  army  "  (L,  73, 
4  and  5). 

To  obstruct  their  pursuit :  a  naive  judgment,  surely. 
Athenian  tradition,  as  represented  by  Herodotus,  greatly 
exaggerated  the  fugitive  element  in  the  retreat  of  Xerxes. 
The  campaign  of  Mardonius  was  carefully  planned  for  the 
year  following  the  naval  defeat  at  Salamis,  and  was  an 
aggressive  campaign,  for  the  prosecution  of  which  the 
flower  of  the  Great  King's  land  forces  were  picked  out. 


188  NOTES  ON  THE    TUEMISTOCLES         [IV.  4- 

Plato  has  his  Athenian  Stranger  reply  to  the  statement 
"we  Cretans  are  in  the  habit  of  saying  that  the  battle  of 
Salamis  was  the  salvation  of  Hellas,"  as  follows:  "Why, 
yes ;  and  that  is  an  opinion  which  is  widely  spread  both 
among  Hellenes  and  Barbarians.  But  Megillus  and  I  say, 
rather,  that  the  battle  of  Marathon  was  the  beginning,  and 
the  battle  of  Platsea  the  completion  of  the  great  deliverance, 
and  that  these  battles  made  the  Hellenes  better ;  whereas 
the  sea-fights  of  Salamis  and  Artemisium  —  for  I  may  as 
well  put  them  both  together  —  made  them  no  better,  if  I 
may  say  so  without  offence  about  the  battles  which  helped 
to  save  us  "  (Laws,  iv.,  p.  707). 

There  are  also  some  striking  words  put  by  Plato  into  the 
mouth  of  Socrates  (Gorgias,  pp.  518,  519),  which  show 
Plato's  attitude  toward  the  democratic  tendencies  inaugu- 
rated by  Themistocles :  "  You  praise  the  men  who  feasted 
the  citizens  and  satisfied  their  desires,  and  people  say  that 
they  have  made  the  city  great,  not  seeing  that  the  ulcerated 
and  swollen  condition  of  the  State  is  to  be  attributed  to  these 
elder  statesmen ;  for  they  have  filled  the  city  full  of  harbours 
and  docks  and  walls  and  revenues  and  all  that"  (see  Plu- 
tarch's Aristides,  xxv.  6),  "  and  have  left  no  room  for  justice 
and  temperance.  And  when  the  crisis  of  the  disorder  comes, 
the  people  will  blame  the  advisers  of  the  hour,  and  applaud 
Themistocles  and  Cimon  and  Pericles,  who  are  the  real 
authors  of  their  calamities." 

V.  The  anecdotes  in  this  chapter  were  probably  culled  from 
various  sources,  not  now  to  be  certainly  determined.  They 
are  mutually  contradictory,  as  were  those  of  his  youth  in 
chapter  iL  Only  one,  the  story  of  his  dramatic  victory, 
can  lay  claim  to  belief.  The  Olympia  gossip  may  have 
been  manufactured  on  the  basis  of  the  Isthmian  gossip  of 
Timocreon  of  Rhodes  in  c.  xxi.  2.  See  the  note  there, 
and  also  the  Introduction,  pp.  30  f.  The  first  Simonides 
story  is  in  a  vein  quite  opposite  to  that  told  in  Aristides, 
iL  4,  where  special  contrast  with  Aristides  "  the  Just "  was 
desired. 


-V.4]          NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  189 

V.  1.  Sell  the  food  sent  in :  Chamseleon  of  Heracleia,  a 
disciple  of  Aristotle,  relates  this  of  Simonides  at  the  court 
of  Hiero  of  Syracuse  (Athenceus,  xiv.  656  D). 

A  wooden  horse:  a  far-fetched  allusion  to  the  famous 
wooden  horse  filled  with  armed  Greeks,  which  the  Trojans 
themselves  introduced  into  their  doomed  city. 

V.  3.  Olympia :  where  the  great  five-day  athletic  festival 
was  held  every  fifth  year.  The  story  would  fit  best  the 
festival  of  488  B.  c.  Not  only  rich  victors,  but  rich  visitors 
established  there  luxurious  temporary  quarters,  and  enter- 
tained lavishly  the  multitudes  of  less  fortunate  sight-seers. 
The  gathering  became  a  vast  fair.  In  chapter  xvii.  3,  Plu- 
tarch gives  the  tradition  of  a  visit  of  Themistocles  to  Olympia 
in  476,  when  he  was  at  the  acme  of  his  glory. 

V.  4.  A  victory  with  tragedies:  there  was  nothing 
necessarily  ostentatious  in  this.  The  expenses  of  dramatic 
representations  were  borne  by  volunteers  from  among  the 
wealthiest  citizens,  it  is  true,  but  it  was  often  practically  ob- 
ligatory to  volunteer.  "  The  duty  of  a  choregus  was  to  pro- 
vide a  chorus  for  the  dramatic  and  lyric  contests  held  at  the 
Panathensea,  Dionysia,  Thargelia,  Prometheia,  and  Hephsestia. 
The  cost  consisted  in  paying  and  maintaining  the  chorus  dur- 
ing its  preparation  for  the  competition,  providing  its  cos- 
tumes, and  paying  a  chorodidascalus  to  train  it "  (Gardner 
and  Jevons,  Manual  of  Greek  Antiquities,  p.  510).  It  was 
expected  that  the  choregus  would  commemorate  his  victory, 
if  he  were  a  victor,  by  an  appropriate  inscription.  "The 
memorials  of  victory  erected  by  the  choregi  to  the  dramatic 
choruses  appear  to  have  taken  the  form  of  tablets,  differing 
in  style  and  costliness  according  to  the  wealth  and  taste  of 
the  individuals.  For  instance,  Themistocles,  after  his  victory 
with  a  tragic  chorus,  erected  a  '  tablet '  in  honour  of  the 
event,  as  also  did  Thrasippus  after  his  victory  in  the  comic 
contests.  It  is  a  trait  in  the  character  of  the  mean  man  in 
Theophrastus,  that  when  he  has  been  successful  with  a  tragic 
chorus,  he  erects  merely  a  wooden  scroll  in  commemoration  of 
the  victory"  (Haigh,  Attic  Theatre,  p.  53,  2d  ed.  61).  Such 


190  NOTES  ON  THE   THEMIS TOCLES          [V.4- 

choregic  inscriptions  as  this  of  Themistocles  served  as  sources 
for  Aristotle  in  the  compilation  of  his  two  books  on  the 
Dionysiac  contests.  To  these  books,  or  their  contents,  Plu- 
tarch must  have  had  access.  See  Haigh,  ibid.,  pp.  63  f.  (2d 
ed.  65  f.),  and  the  note  on  Aristides,  L  2. 

Phrynichus :  the  great  forerunner  and  predecessor  of 
^Eschylus,  whose  first  dramatic  victory  was  won  in  512  B.  c., 
and  whose  choral  songs  were  popular  with  elderly  Athenians 
when  Aristophanes  was  winning  victories  toward  the  close 
of  the  fifth  century.  The  victory  here  recorded  was  prob- 
ably won  with  the  Phoenissce,  a  play  which  celebrated  espe- 
cially the  great  victory  of  Salamis,  for  which,  at  the  time 
(476,  when  Adeimantus  was  archon),  Themistocles  was  given 
the  chief  credit.  It  is  probable  that  the  play  of  the  Per- 
sians, by  ./Eschylus,  brought  out  four  years  later  (472),  was 
written,  in  part  at  least,  in  order  to  bring  into  more  'promi- 
nence the  services  of  Aristides  at  Salamis,  and  also  the  battle 
of  Plataea,  where  Themistocles  took  no  part  whatever.  See 
the  Introduction,  p.  30. 

Arbitrator :  in  this  capacity  Aristides,  as  might  be 
expected,  was  even  more  famous.  Plutarch,  Aristides,  iv. 
1;  vii.  1. 

And  so :  i.  e.  relying  on  his  general  popularity,  he  ven- 
tured on  great  plainness  of  speech  with  a  man  so  famous  as 
Simonides.  See  the  Introduction,  pp.  29  f. 

An  improper  request :  the  story  illustrates  not  only  the 
readiness  and  boldness  of  Themistocles'  speech,  but  the  greed 
attributed  to  Simonides,  first  by  his  great  rival,  Pindar,  and 
then  by  later  writers. 

V.  5.  To  abuse  the  Corinthians :  the  Corinthians  took 
needless  umbrage  at  a  passage  in  one  of  the  poems  of  Simon- 
ides which  declared  that  Troy  had  no  fault  to  find  with  the 
Corinthians  for  fighting  against  her,  since  her  great  Lycian 
ally,  Glaucus,  was  of  ancient  Corinthian  lineage  (Bergk,  Poet. 
Lyr.  GroBci,  iii.  p.  412).  This  was  really  a  poetical  compli- 
ment to  the  mythical  fame  of  the  Corinthians,  but  was 
wrested  by  them  into  the  thought  that  the  Lycian  allies  of 


-VI.  2]        NOTES  ON  THE    THEMIS TOCLES  191 

the  Trojans  more  than  compensated  them  for  the  enmity  of 
contemporary  Corinth.  Aristotle  (Rhet.,  i  6)  explains  that 
the  Corinthians  were  vexed  because  the  words  of  Simonides 
implied  that  their  enemies  had  no  praise  for  their  valor.  It 
was  probably  a  literary  faux  pas  on  the  part  of  Simonides, 
neatly  incorporated  into  the  pleasantry  here  attributed  to 
Themistocles,  which  thrusts  alike  at  the  literary  maladroit- 
ness  and  the  vanity  of  the  singer  who  wanted  to  be  all  things 
to  all  Hellenes. 

Removed  by  ostracism :  the  technical  phrase  for  the  re- 
moval from  political  activity,  for  a  period  of  ten  years,  of  a 
political  leader  thought  by  a  majority  of  at  least  six  thou- 
sand of  his  fellow-citizens  to  be  endangering  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  state.  Plutarch  comments  on  the  institution 
in  Aristides,  vii.  Aristotle  (Constitution  of  Athens,  xxii  7) 
tells  us  that  the  banishment  of  Aristides  was  nearly  coinci- 
dent with  the  naval  bill  of  Themistocles  (483-2  B.C.). 

VI.  1.  The  Mede  was  descending :  from  Sardis  to  the 
Hellespont,  in  the  spring  of  480  B.  c. 

AH  the  rest :  i.  e.  all  the  other  generals,  ten  in  all, 
elected  annually.  The  choice  of  a  general-in-chief  was  to  be 
made  now  from  this  number.  Compare  the  Aristides,  viii.  1 : 
"when  Themistocles  was  general  with  sole  powers;"  also 
c.  xi  1. 

They  say :  Plutarch  is  our  sole  authority  for  this  Epi- 
cydes  story,  and  the  source  from  which  he  took  it  is 
unknown.  It  became  the  fashion  for  late  and  malevolent 
tradition  to  have  the  greatest  achievements  of  Themistocles 
the  result  of  treachery  or  venality.  See  chapters  vii  3 
and  x.  4  of  this  biography.  From  chapter  xix.  1,  we  see 
that  so  reputable  a  historian  as  Theopompus  must  resort 
to  the  charge  of  bribery  to  explain  the  marvellous  success 
of  Themistocles  as  special  envoy  at  Sparta.  Epicydes  is 
otherwise  unknown. 

VI.  2.  This  story  of  Themistocles  and  the  interpreter  is 
clearly  a  late  compilation"  and  blend  of  elements  found  in 
the  apocryphal  story  which  Herodotus  tells  (vii.  32,  131-7) 


192  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES        [VI.  2- 

of  the  treatment  by  Athens  and  Sparta  of  the  envoys  of 
Darius.  These  came  demanding  earth  and  water  as  tokens 
of  submission.  So  the  Athenians  threw  theirs  into  a  pit 
(barathrum),  and  the  Spartans  threw  theirs  into  a  well,  bid- 
ding them  get  from  thence  what  they  demanded.  Xerxes, 
warned  by  the  fate  of  the  envoys  of  his  father  Darius,  sent 
none  to  Athens  and  Sparta. 

Herodotus  knows  what  special  punishment  befell  indi- 
vidual Spartans  for  this  breach  of  the  law  of  heralds,  but 
cannot  think  of  any  such  in  the  case  of  the  Athenians. 
Later  tradition,  however,  readily  supplied  the  lack.  It  was 
Miltiades  who  was  specially  responsible  for  the  murder  of 
the  envoys  at  Athens,  and  his  miserable  end  must  have  been 
due  to  this  impiety  (Pausanias,  iii.  12,  7). 

Ephorus,  ignoring  Herodotus,  has  Xerxes  also  send  envoys 
to  Athens  (Diodorus,  xi  2,  3).  This  laudator  of  Themisto- 
cles  may  very  well  have  had  his  hero  now  play  the  role  of 
Miltiades  ten  years  before.  Themistocles  must  actually  outdo 
Miltiades  in  having  even  the  interpreter  who  served  the  en- 
voys put  to  death  for  prostituting  the  language  of  freemen ! 

VI.  3.  Arthmius  of  Zeleia :  this  case  was  so  often  cited 
by  the  orators  to  show  degenerate  Athenians  how  their 
fathers  despised  foreign  money,  that  the  actual  features  of  it 
became  gradually  distorted,  although  the  decree  of  the  people 
against  Arthmius  was  inscribed  on  a  bronze  slab  and  set  up 
on  the  acropolis.  Here  it  doubtless  stood  when  Demosthenes 
said  (ix.  41  ff.) :  "  But  that  hi  the  past  the  case  was  just  the 
opposite,  I  will  show  you,  not  with  words  of  my  own,  but  by 
citing  an  inscription  of  our  fathers,  which  they  inscribed  on 
a  bronze  slab  and  set  up  on  the  acropolis.  '  Arthmius,'  it 
says, '  the  son  of  Pythonax,  of  Zeleia,  shall  be  an  outlaw  and 
an  enemy  of  the  people  of  Athens  and  their  allies,  himself 
and  his  family.'  Then  the  inscription  gives  the  reason  for 
this :  '  because  he  brought  the  gold  of  the  Medes  into  Pelo- 
ponnesus.' Such  is  the  inscription.  Consider  now,  by  the 
gods !  what,  pray,  was  the  purpose  of  the  Athenians  who 
then  so  acted,  or  what  their  sense  of  dignity  ?  They  made 


-VI.  4]        NOTES   ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES  193 

a  certain  Zeleian,  Arthmius,  a  subject  of  the  Great  King 
(for  Zeleia  is  in  Asia),  because  in  the  service  of  his  master 
he  brought  gold  into  Peloponnesus,  not  to  Athens,  an  enemy 
of  theirs  by  public  inscription,  and  of  their  allies,  himself  and 
his  family,  and  outlaws.  .  .  .  They,  —  those  forefathers  of 
ours,  —  thought  it  their  duty  to  watch  over  the  safety  of  all 
the  Hellenes ;  otherwise,  had  they  not  held  this  opinion,  they 
would  not  have  cared  whether  anybody  was  purchasing  and 
corrupting  people  in  Peloponnesus." 

The  repeated  reference  to  "  the  allies  "  of  Athens  throws 
the  time  of  the  decree  down  into  a  period  when  Themistocles 
was  no  longer  in  power,  if,  indeed,  in  Athens.  He  could  not 
have  been  the  author  of  the  decree.  Some  laudator  like 
Ephorus,  however,  may  well  have  attributed  to  him  so  glori- 
ous a  measure.  The  decree  is  best  brought  into  connection 
with  the  events  described  by  Thucydides  (i.  109. 2,  3) :  "  The 
Athenians  and  their  allies  were  still  in  Egypt,  where  they 
carried  on  the  war  with  varying  fortune.  At  first  they  were 
masters  of  the  country.  The  King  sent  to  Lacedaemon 
Megabazus,  a  Persian,  who  was  well  supplied  with  money, 
in  the  hope  that  he  might  persuade  the  Peloponnesians  to 
invade  Attica,  and  so  draw  off  the  Athenians  from  Egypt.  He 
had  no  success;  the  money  was  being  spent  and  nothing 
done  ;  so,  with  what  remained  of  it,  he  found  his  way  back 
to  Asia."  Arthmius,  a  Greek  of  Zeleia  in  the  Troad,  proxenus 
or  consul  of  his  native  city  at  Athens,  may  well  have  been 
one  of  the  agents  of  Megabazus,  or  may  have  had  an  inde- 
pendent mission  similar  to  his.  The  time  of  the  episode  was 
somewhere  between  460  and  455  B.  c.,  and  there  is  excellent 
reason  for  believing  that  Cimon  was  mover  of  the  decree. 
See  the  Introduction,  p.  42  (Busolt,  ii.  p.  653,  n.). 

VI.  4.  Putting  a  stop  to  Hellenic  wars :  this  work  of 
peacemaking  is  ascribed  by  Herodotus,  in  the  passage  cited 
on  iv.  1,  to  the  delegates  of  the  Hellenic  states  assembled  at 
the  Isthmus  hi  the  spring  of  480  B.  c.  Themistocles  may,  of 
course,  have  been  prominent  hi  the  work,  but  it  is  one  of  the 
tendencies  of  historical  tradition  to  individualize  general 

13 


194  NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES         [VL4- 

action.  Ephorus,  especially,  likes  to  assign  to  the  individual 
efforts  of  Themistocles  what  was  accomplished  by  the 
Hellenes  together. 

Cheileos  the  Arcadian :  this  is  probably  a  vague  literary 
reminiscence  of  Plutarch,  or,  perhaps,  an  unauthorized  com- 
bination by  some  unknown  source  of  his.  In  the  exceedingly 
doubtful  story  of  Herodotus  (ix.  9),  it  is  Chileiis  of  Tegea 
who  prevails  upon  the  reluctant  Spartans  to  send  an  army 
out  of  the  Peloponnesus  to  oppose  Mardonius,  —  a  detraction 
from  the  credit  due  the  Spartans,  as  the  Mnesiphilus  story 
(see  the  note  on  ii.  4)  detracted  from  the  credit  due 
Themistocles. 

VII.  1,  2.  With  these  vague  and  general  statements,  com- 
pare Herodotus,  vii.  173-5,  161 ;  viii.  2,  3.  The  chronology 
of  Plutarch  is  especially  vague,  and  much  is  attributed  by 
him  to  Themistocles  personally  which  was  decided  by  the 
Congress  of  Hellenes  at  the  Isthmus,  or  by  their  authorized 
commanders-in-chief.  It  was  not  at  Artemisium,  but  at  the 
Congress  that  Sparta  was  assigned  the  command  by  sea  as 
well  as  by  land. 

The  vale  of  Tempe :  the  pass  between  lower  Macedonia 
and  Thessaly,  along  the  river  Peneius,  with  Alt.  Olympus  on 
the  north  and  Ait.  Ossa  on  the  south. 

In  defence  of  Thessaly:  at  the  request  of  the  party  in 
Thessaly  which  favored  the  national  Hellenic  cause.  Power- 
ful nobles  here,  as  well  as  in  Boeotia,  hoped  to  get  control  of 
the  country  through  the  aid  of  the  Persians,  and  therefore 
"  medised."  The  failure  to  secure  united  action  against  the 
invading  Medes  (Herodotus  uses  the  name  synonymously 
with  Persians),  and  the  reluctance  of  Sparta  to  make  any 
stand  north  of  the  Isthmus,  were  the  really  decisive  reasons 
for  the  abandonment  of  the  expedition,  though  Herodotus 
does  not  say  so.  The  reasons  given  by  him  are  the  discovery 
of  another  pass  into  Thessaly,  and  tidings  of  the  overwhelm- 
ing numbers  of  the  invaders.  Ephorus  (hi  Diod.  Sic.,  xi.  2, 6) 
ascribes  the  abandonment  of  Tempe  solely  to  the  "  medising  " 
of  the  Greeks  about  the  pass. 


-VH.3]       NOTES   ON  THE    THEMIS TOCLES  195 

Artemisium :  it  is  thus  described  by  Herodotus  (vii.  176) : 
"Artemisium  is  where  the  sea  of  Thrace  contracts  into  a 
narrow  channel,  running  between  the  isle  of  Sciathus  and  the 
mainland  of  Magnesia.  When  this  narrow  strait  is  passed 
you  come  to  the  line  of  coast  called  Artemisium ;  which  is  a 
portion  of  Eubcea,  and  contains  a  temple  of  Artemis." 
Plutarch's  description  comes  in  c.  viiL  2,  3.  The  position 
protected  the  flank  of  the  land  forces  guarding  the  pass 
of  Thermopylae  (Herod.,  vii  175,  176). 

VII.  3.  Aphetse:  a  small  harbor  opposite  Artemisium 
on  the  peninsula  of  Magnesia.  Herodotus  describes  it  in 
vii.  193 :  "  The  Barbarians,  .  .  .  having  rounded  the  extreme 
point  of  Magnesia,  sailed  straight  into  the  bay  that  runs  up 
to  Pagasae.  There  is  a  place  in  this  bay,  belonging  to  Mag- 
nesia, where  Hercules  is  said  to  have  been  put  ashore  to 
fetch  water  by  Jason  and  his  companions ;  who  then  deserted 
him  and  went  on  their  way  to  Aea  in  Colchis,  on  board  the 
ship  Argo,  hi  quest  of  the  golden  fleece. " 

Eurybiades  was  terrified :  this  fright  Herodotus  (viii.  4) 
attributes  to  all  the  Greeks.  It  is  concentrated  on  the  com- 
mander by  Plutarch,  just  as  the  magnanimity  of  the  Atheni- 
ans was  on  their  commander.  In  Herodotus,  the  news  that 
the  enemy  were  sending  a  fleet  round  Eubcea  to  intercept  the 
retreat  of  the  Greeks  (viii.  7-9)  produces  no  fear,  but  rather 
reveals  a  welcome  opportunity  to  attack  the  enemy  in  sepa- 
rate divisions.  Plutarch,  relying  on  his  memory  perhaps, 
blends  the  features  of  viii.  4  and  7-9. 

Gave  to  Eurybiades :  Plutarch,  while  citing  Herodotus  by 
name,  has  greatly  softened  the  malignity  of  his  story  of  this 
affair.  According  to  Herodotus  (viii.  4,  5),  the  Eubceans, 
anxious  to  save  their  families,  besought  Eurybiades  to  keep 
the  fleet  in  its  position  for  a  few  days  only,  but  all  in  vain. 
They  therefore  turned  to  Themistocles,  whom  they  bribed 
with  thirty  talents  to  promise  that  the  fleet  should  remain 
and  fight  a  battle  in  defence  of  Euboea.  Themistocles  bribed 
Eurybiades  with  five  talents,  and  Adeimantus,  the  Corinthian 
captain,  with  three,  and  so  was  able  to  keep  his  promise  to  the 


196  NOTES  ON  THE    TIIEMISTOCLES       [VII.  s- 

Euboeans.  "  He  likewise  made  his  own  gain  on  the  occasion ; 
for  he  kept  the  rest  of  the  money,  and  no  one  knew  of  it. 
The  commanders  who  took  the  gifts  thought  that  the  sums 
were  furnished  by  Athens,  and  had  been  sent  to  be  used  in 
this  way." 

Herodotus  gives  the  version  of  the  incident  current  at 
Athens  when  hatred  of  Themistocles,  Corinth,  and  Sparta 
was  intense.  An  all-sufficient  basis  for  the  slander  could  be 
found  in  what  is  intimated  even  by  Herodotus.  The  Athe- 
nians, as  anxious  as  the  Euboeans  that  a  defensive  struggle 
against  the  invader  should  be  made  north  of  the  Isthmus, 
sent  moneys  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  ill-paid  crews, 
and  these  Themistocles  disbursed.  The  Euboeans  also  con- 
tributed to  the  cause.  The  name  of  their  agent,  Pelagon,  — 
not  found  hi  the  account  of  Herodotus,  —  may  come  from 
Phanias,  who  tells  the  story  that  follows  (4),  where  Archi- 
teles,  an  Athenian,  is  scapegoat,  instead  of  Adeimantus  the 
Corinthian.  The  story  is  one  of  many  coined  to  illustrate 
the  ready  cunning  of  Themistocles. 

VIII.  1.  The  battles :  three  in  number,  on  three  succes- 
sive days,  whife  the  three  successive  battles  in  the  pass  of 
Thermopylae  were  raging  (Herod.,  viii  15).  The  full  story 
of  them  is  in  Herodotus,  viii.  6-18.  Plutarch  merely  speaks 
of  the  moral  effects  of  the  battles,  and  omits  all  description. 

VIII.  2.  Pindar:  in  the  same  dithyramb  (Bergk,  Frag. 
76  and  77)  in  which  occurred  that  other  encomium  on 
Athens,  extravagantly  pleasing  to  all  Athenians:  "0  that 
shining,  violet-crowned,  bard-sung  bulwark  of  Hellas,  famous 
Athens,  heavenly  citadel ! "  Both  tributes  came  from  a  coun- 
tryman of  Plutarch,  a  citizen  of  that  Thebes  to  whose  patri- 
otism the  Athenians  of  the  time  when  Herodotus  wrote  did 
such  rank  injustice. 

VIII.  3.  The  following  elegy :  it  comes  down  to  us  on 
the  sole  authority  of  Plutarch ;  but  Bergk  (Poet.  Lyr.  Greed, 
iii.  p.  480)  does  not  hesitate  to  agree  with  Schneidewin  in 
ascribing  it  to  Simonides.  It  is  not  any  stranger  that 
Herodotus  should  not  give  it  than  that  he  should  omit 


-IX.  2]        NOTES   ON  THE    THEMIS TOCLES  197 

two  of  the  five  epitaphs  for  the  slain  at  Thermopylae  in 
vii  228. 

Interesting  results  of  modern  excavations  on  the  ancient 
site  of  the  temple  of  Artemis  are  given  in  the  Aihenische 
Mittheilungen,  1883,  pp.  7  ff.,  200  ff. 

Burned  their  wrecks  and  dead  bodies:  according  to 
Herodotus  (viii.  18),  the  Greeks  were  so  far  victorious  in 
the  third  and  last  day's  fighting  as  to  remain  masters 
of  their  slain  and  the  wrecks  of  their  vessels,  but  so 
badly  used  up  as  to  decide  that  evening,  before  tidings 
came  of  the  disaster  to  Leonidas,  on  "  flight "  to  the  South. 
To  this  representation  of  the  facts  Plutarch  takes  the  strong- 
est exception  in  his  De  Herodoti  malignitate,  xxxiv.  (Morals, 
p.  867  C),  where  also  he  cites  this  tribute  of  Pindar. 

IX.  1-3.  With  this  much  condensed  account,  compare 
Herodotus,  viii  21-40. 

IX.  1.  By  messenger  from  Thermopylae :  namely,  Ha- 
bronichus,  son  of  Lysicles,  an  Athenian,  who  had  been  sta- 
tioned near  Leonidas  off  Thermopylae  with  a  thirty-oared 
vessel,  to  carry  tidings  from  the  Greek  land  forces  to  the  fleet 
at  Artemisium.  In  like  manner  a  watchman  had  been  sta- 
tioned with  a  boat  off  Artemisium  to  carry  tidings  of  the 
fleet  to  Leonidas  (Herod.,  viii.  21). 

Because  of  their  valor  :  a  pardonable  claim  of  Athenian 
patriotism.  Herodotus  says  (viii  21 )  that  the  Greeks  "  with- 
drew in  the  order  wherein  they  had  been  stationed,  the  Corin- 
thians leading,  and  the  Athenians  sailing  last  of  all." 

Along  trie  coasts :  the  western  coast  of  Euboea.  Herodo- 
tus gives  (viii.  22)  a  long  and  very  rhetorical  version  of  the 
contents  of  these  inscriptions.  At  the  battle  of  Salamis, 
he  says  (viii.  85),  "few  only  of  the  lonians  followed  the 
advice  of  Themistocles,  to  fight  backwardly ;  the  greater 
number  did  far  otherwise."  Later  tradition  magnified  the 
success  of  the  scheme. 

IX.  2.  Was  burning  the  cities  of  the  Phocians :  Doris 
was  spared  because  the  inhabitants  "medised,"  but  "the 
Phocians  were  the  only  people  in  these  parts  who  had  not 


198  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES         [IX.  2- 

espoused  the  cause  of  the  Medes "  (Herod,,  viii  30).  The 
Thessalian  Greeks,  to  avenge  themselves  on  their  old  foes, 
the  Phocians  (Herod.,  viii.  27-32),  served  the  Barbarians  as 
guides.  "  The  land  of  Phocis  was  entirely  overrun,  for  the 
Thessalians  led  the  Persian  army  through  the  whole  of  it ; 
and  wherever  they  went,  the  country  was  wasted  with 
fire  and  sword,  the  cities  and  even  the  temples  being  wil- 
fully set  alight  by  the  troops."  After  this,  the  Barbarians 
separated  into  two  bodies,  according  to  Herodotus  (viii  34), 
"  whereof  one,  which  was  the  more  numerous  and  the  stronger 
of  the  two,  marched,  under  Xerxes  himself,  towards  Athens ; 
the  other  division  took  guides  and  proceeded  towards  the 
temple  of  Delphi." 

The  Hellenes  gave  them  no  succor :  at  the  earnest  entrea- 
ties of  the  Athenians,  who  were  now  in  the  same  fear  which 
had  possessed  the  Euboeans  before  the  battles  at  Artemisium 
(c.  vii  3),  the  allied  fleet  had  anchored  at  the  island  of 
Salamis,  off  Athens,  that  the  Athenians  might  rescue  their 
families.  The  halt  was  intended  to  be  only  long  enough 
for  this.  The  rest  of  the  paragraph  closely  follows  Herod- 
otus, viii.  40. 

X.  1.  The  behavior  of  the  serpent :  "  The  Athenians  say 
that  they  have  in  their  acropolis  a  huge  serpent,  which  lives 
in  the  temple,  and  is  the  guardian  of  the  whole  place.  Nor 
do  they  only  say  this,  but,  as  if  the  serpent  really  dwelt  there, 
every  month  they  lay  out  its  food,  which  consists  of  a  honey- 
cake.  Up  to  this  time  the  honey-cake  had  always  been  con- 
sumed; but  now  it  remained  untouched.  So  the  priestess 
told  the  people  what  had  happened;  whereupon  they  left 
Athens  the  more  readily,  since  they  believed  that  the  god- 
dess had  already  abandoned  the  citadel "  (Herod.,  viii  41). 
It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  either  Plutarch  himself,  or  the 
later  tradition  which  he  uses,  converts  the  general  procedure 
of  the  Herodotean  story  into  the  specific  deed  of  one  man, 
the  leading  spirit  of  the  time.  See  the  note  on  vi  4. 

X.  2.  With  the  well  known  oracle  he  tried  again,  etc. : 
some  time  before  the  passage  of  the  naval  bill  of  The- 


-X.2]         NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES  199 

mistocles  (484-3;  see  c.  iv.  1,  2,  and  notes),  the  Athe- 
nians sent  to  consult  the  oracle  at  Delphi  regarding  the 
future  of  then*  city.  At  first  the  prophetess  had  nothing 
but  the  direst  prophecies  of  utter  destruction  at  the  hands 
of  the  foreign  invaders  (Herod.,  vii.  140) ;  but  in  answer 
to  suppliant  entreaties  she  vouchsafed  them  this  second 
response :  — 

"  Pallas  has  not  been  able  to  soften  the  lord  of  Olympus, 
Though  she  has  often  prayed,  and  urged  him  with  excellent 

counsel. 

Yet  once  more  I  address  thee  in  words  than  adamant  firmer. 
When  the  foe  shall  have  taken  whatever  the  limits  of  Ceorops 
Hold  encompassed,  and  all  that  divine  Cithaeron  shelters  (i.  e. 

Attica), 

Then  doth  the  far-voiced  Zeus  grant  this  to  the  prayers  of  Athena : 
Safe  shall  the  wooden  wall  continue  for  thee  and  thy  children; 
Wait  not  the  tramp  of   the  horse,  nor  the  footmen  mightily 

moving 

Over  the  land,  but  turn  your  back  to  the  foe,  and  retire  ye; 
Yet  shall  a  day  arrive  in  which  ye  shall  meet  him  in  battle. 
Thou,  0  divine  Salamis,  shalt  destroy  many  children  of  women, 
When  men  scatter  the  seed,  or  when  they  gather  the  harvest." 
(Herod.,  vii.  141,  the  last  verse  but  one  slightly  changed  from 
Rawlinson.) 

Herodotus  then  goes  on  to  say  (cc.  142,  143)  that  according 
to  one  prevalent  interpretation  of  the  oracle,  the  "wooden 
wall"  meant  the  citadel  of  Athens;  according  to  another, 
the  fleet  of  Athens.  Those  who  upheld  the  latter  interpre- 
tation were  troubled  by  the  last  two  verses  of  the  oracle, 
which  seemed  to  foretell  defeat  at  Salamis,  until  Themis- 
tocles  (it  is  at  this  point  that  Herodotus  introduces  him  into 
his  story)  showed  that  it  must  be  the  defeat  of  the  enemy 
which  was  meant.  This  argument  of  Themistocles  was  prob- 
ably made  between  the  return  from  Tempe  and  the  battles 
at  Artemisium,  to  induce  the  Athenians  to  put  their  main 
reliance  on  then-  fleet  rather  than  on  a  land  force.  He  now 


200  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES         [X.2- 

renews  the  argument  to  induce  them  to  give  up  everything 
for  their  fleet. 

X.  3.  Introduced  a  bill,  etc. :  "  So  while  the  rest  of  the 
fleet  lay  to  off  the  island  of  Salamis,  the  Athenians  cast 
anchor  along  their  own  coast.  Immediately  upon  their 
arrival,  proclamation  was  made  that  every  Athenian  should 
save  his  children  and  household  as  he  best  could ;  whereupon 
some  sent  their  families  to  ^gina,  some  to  Salamis,  but  the 
greater  number  to  Troezen  "  (Herod.,  viii  41).  From  Aristotle 
(Constitution  of  Athens,  xxiii.  1,  cited  by  Plutarch  in  the 
next  paragraph)  it  is  clear  that  this  sauve  qui  pent  procla- 
mation was  made  by  the  generals,  at  whose  head  stood 
Themistocles.  The  "  bill "  was  another  matter.  Plutarch 
has  good  documentary  evidence  for  this  (see  the  Introduc- 
tion, p.  42),  as  well  as  for  the  public  decree  of  the  Troeze- 
nians  below. 

Bestowed  their  children  and  wives :  after  Madvig's  cor- 
rection, for  "parents  and  wives." 

Two  obols :  three  obols  was  a  low  living  wage  at  Athens 
for  a  man  of  family.  The  obol  corresponded  closely  to  the 
English  penny,  though  it  had  several  times  its  purchasing 
power,  as  did  all  ancient  money  when  compared  with  sums 
equivalent  now.  There  were  six  obols  in  a  drachma,  one 
hundred  drachmas  in  a  mina,  and  sixty  mince  in  a  talent. 

Nicagoras :  as  who  should  say  Victorius,  a  name  significant 
of  the  victory  soon  to  be  won. 

The  senate  of  Areiopagus :  this  august  body,  the  relig- 
ious Supreme  Court  of  Athens,  composed  of  ex-archons  who 
had  filled  their  terms  of  office  successfully,  by  its  public- 
spirited  action  in  this  crisis,  was  held  to  have  regained  much 
of  the  influence  and  power  which  had  been  taken  from  it 
(Aristotle,  as  above  cited). 

Eight  drachmas :  the  drachma  corresponded  closely  to 
the  French  franc.  The  entire  sum  furnished  by  the  Areio- 
pagus must  have  been  not  less  than  fifty  talents  (about 
£11,900,  or  $59,000).  It  may  have  been  provided  from 
temple-treasures,  or  private  funds,  or  both. 


-XL  2]        NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  201 

X.  4.  Clidemus :  see  the  Introduction,  p.  41,  and  the 
last  note  on  vi.  1. 

X.  5.   Embraces  of  their  loved  ones:    assuming   some 
more  general  term  than  that  meaning  "  parents  "  in  the  usual 
text,  as  Amyot  evidently  read. 

Much  pity:  after  Fuhr's  correction  of  the  usual  text 
meaning  "  many  who  were  left  behind  provoked  pity." 

The  story  of  the  dog  of  Xanthippus  is  given,  on  the  author- 
ity of  Aristotle  and  Philochorus,  by  ^Elian  (floruit  circa  220 
A.  D.),  De  natura  animalium,  xii.  35.  Plutarch  alludes  to 
the  story  again  in  his  Cato  Major,  v.  4 :  "  And  Xanthippus  of 
old  time,  when  his  dog  swam  over  to  Salamis  by  the  side  of 
his  trireme,  what  time  the  people  abandoned  their  city,  gave 
him  regular  burial  on  the  height  called  to  this  day  *  Dog's 
Mound.'  "  The  story  arose,  of  course,  to  explain  the  name  of 
the  height. 

XI.  1.  Introduced  a  bill:  Aristotle  (Constitution  of  Athens, 
xxii.  8),  after  mentioning  the  ostracism  of  Aristides  in  con- 
nection with  the  naval  bill  of  Themistocles  (484-3),  adds : 
"  But   in  the  fourth  year   thereafter,  in  the  archonship  of 
Hypsichides,  they  restored  all  those  who  had  been  ostracized, 
because  of  the  expedition  of  Xerxes."     Plutarch  also  (Aris- 
tides, viii.  1),  says  :  "  But  in  the  third  year  thereafter,  when 
Xerxes  was  marching  through  Thessaly  and  Bceotia  against 
Attica,  they  repealed  their  law  of  ostracism,  and  voted  that 
those  who  had  been  sent  away  under  it  might  return.     The 
chief  reason  for  this  was  their  fear  of  Aristides."     In  neither 
of  these  passages  is  Themistocles  spoken  of  as  mover  of  the 
bill,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  Plutarch  has  any  evidence 
for  making  him  such  here.     It  is  probably  an  instance  of 
the   individualization   of  general   procedure   so  natural  in 
special  biography  (see  on  Aristides,  x.  2).     This  amnesty 
included  Xanthippus,  the  father   of  Pericles,  who  was  os- 
tracized a  year  before  Aristides  (Aristotle,  Constitution  of 
Athens,  xxij  6).     The  famous  story  of  his  dog,  told  in  the 
previous  chapter,  is  therefore  chronologically  possible. 

XI.  2-4.   A  group  of  anecdotes  gathered  from  Herodotus 


202  NOTES  ON   THE    THEMIS  TOCLES        [XL  »- 

and  unknown  sources.  Plutarch  makes  very  free  use  of  his 
material,  and  even  changes  the  dramatis  persona.  His  main 
purpose  of  characterization  is,  however,  attained,  though  with 
diminished  precision.  The  passages  of  Herodotus  which 
furnish  material,  directly  or  indirectly,  for  the  rest  of  the 
chapter,  are  viii.  56-63,  70,  74,  and  possibly  79. 

XI.  2.  Wished  to  hoist  sail,  etc. :  this  panic  affected  all 
the  Greeks  alike,  according  to  Herodotus  (viii.  56),  and  was 
the  result  of  tidings  that  the  land  forces  of  Xerxes  had 
sacked  the  citadel  of  Athens.  The  captains  who  did  not  at 
once  sail  away  voted  in  council  to  do  so  that  very  night; 
but  Themistocles  succeeded  in  persuading  Eurybiades  to  call 
a  second  council  "  As  soon  as  they  were  come,  and  before 
Eurybiades  had  opened  to  them  his  purpose  in  assembling 
them  together,  Themistocles,  as  men  are  wont  to  do  when 
they  are  very  anxious,  spoke  much  to  divers  of  them ;  where- 
upon the  Corinthian  captain,  Adeimantus,  the  son  of  Ocytus, 
observed  "  —  what  Eurybiades  observes  in  the  story  as  told 
by  Plutarch.  For  Plutarch's  purposes  the  substitution  of 
Eurybiades  is  better,  since  it  paves  the  way  for  the  second 
story.  But  the  point  of  the  story  is  lost  in  his  version. 
Themistocles  is  so  eager  to  have  the  decision  of  the  first 
council  reversed  that  he  cannot  wait  for  the  second  to  be 
called  to  order,  and  so  "  starts  before  the  signal"  Such 
impatient  runners  at  the  games  were  whipped  back  to  the 
starting-point  by  the  attendants  of  the  judges. 

XI.  3.  The  second,  the  "  smite-but-hear-me  "  story,  comes 
to  us  on  no  authority  earlier  than  Plutarch.  Herodotus  does 
not  give  it ;  but  its  place  is  very  natural  here,  following  the 
suggestion  of  "caning."  It  wins  Themistocles  the  word, 
according  to  Plutarch,  whereas  in  Herodotus  he  continues 
speaking  in  spite  of  the  interruption  of  Adeimantus. 

Tried  to  bring  him  back  to  his  own  position :  so  Plu- 
tarch summarizes  the  long  and  eloquent  speech  put  into  the 
mouth  of  Themistocles  by  Herodotus  (viii.  60),  which  is 
much  like  that  of  Miltiades  to  Callimachus  at  Marathon 
(vi  109). 


-XL  4]        NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  203 

A  certain  one  :  Adeimantus  the  Corinthian  again,  in 
Herodotus,  viii.  61.  "  Hereupon  Themistocles  spake  many 
bitter  things  against  Adeimantus  and  the  Corinthians  gener- 
ally; and  for  proof  that  he  had  a  country,  reminded  the 
captains  that  with  two  hundred  ships  at  his  command,  all 
fully  manned  for  battle,  he  had  both  city  and  territory  as 
good  as  theirs." 

XI.  4.  But  if  you  go  off  and  betray  us,  etc. :  the  threaten- 
ing part  of  this  speech  was,  according  to  Herodotus  (viii.  62), 
addressed  directly  to  Eurybiades.  "After  this  declaration, 
he  turned  to  Eurybiades,  and  addressing  him  with  greater 
warmth  and  earnestness,  '  If  thou  wilt  stay  here,'  he  said, 
'  and  behave  like  a  brave  man,  all  will  be  well ;  if  not,  thou 
wilt  bring  Greece  to  ruin.  For  the  whole  fortune  of  the  war 
depends  on  our  ships.  Be  thou  persuaded  of  my  words.  If 
not,  we  will  take  our  families  on  board,  and  go,  just  as  we 
are,  to  Siris  in  Italy,  which  is  ours  from  of  old,  and  which 
the  prophecies  declare  we  are  to  colonize  some  day  or  other. 
You  then,  when  you  have  lost  allies  like  us,  will  hereafter 
call  to  mind  what  I  have  now  said.'  " 

For  the  second  time :   cf.  ix.  2. 

Eurybiades  was  seized  with  fear,  etc. :  so  Herodotus 
(viii.  63). 

The  Eretrian :  well  known  as  the  victim  of  the  retort,  and 
for  nothing  else,  like  the  Seriphian  in  xviii.  3.  The  story  is 
not  found  in  Herodotus,  nor  anywhere  but  here.  It  is  lugged 
in  by  the  ears.  The  point  would  seem  to  be,  as  Grote  sug- 
gested (History  of  Greece,  vol.  iv.,  Engl.  ed.,  p.  22,  note), 
that  the  Eretrians  had  greed  but  no  patriotism.  Their  city 
was  betrayed  to  the  Persians  in  490  by  some  of  its  own 
citizens. 

Admirable  for  its  time  as  was  the  ichthyology  of  Aristotle, 
he  seems  to  have  mistaken  the  "  funnel "  of  the  cuttle-fish 
for  an  embryonic  heart  (Historia  animalium,  iv.  1  p.  524 b, 
14-24).  The  fish  has  a  well  developed  heart  besides  the 
"funnel."  Popular  ichthyology  might  well  make  the  ink- 
fish  all  "  funnel,"  or  "  pouch,"  and  no  heart. 


204  NOTES  ON  THE    TUEMISTOCLE8      [XIL  1- 

XII.  1.  Some  tell  the  story,  etc. :  such  a  story  was  told 
by  Ammonius  of  Lamprae,  under  whom  Plutarch  studied  at 
Athens  (c.  xxxii  4  Jin.'),  in  a  work  entitled  "  Altars  and 
Sacrifices."  According  to  him,  the  owl  (the  bird-emblem  of 
Athena)  merely  hovered  round  the  Athenian  ships,  while  a 
dove  alighted  on  the  trireme  of  Themistocles ;  wherefore, 
after  the  battle,  he  established  a  sanctuary  of  Aphrodite  (to 
whom  the  dove  was  sacred)  in  the  Piraeus  (Maximus  Plan- 
udes,  cited  in  Bauer,  Plutarchs  Themistokles,  p.  43).  Herodotus 
says  nothing  of  the  omen,  but  there  must  have  been  a  popular 
belief  in  it  a  few  years  after  Herodotus  wrote,  judging  from 
a  passage  in  the  Wasps  of  Aristophanes  (1078-1090),  which 
blends  many  patriotic  reminiscences  of  both  Marathon  and 
Salamis : 

1 '  Yet  we  drove  their  ranks  before  us,  ere  the  fall  of  eventide ; 
As  we  closed,  an  owl  flew  o'er  us,  and  the  Gods  were  on  our  side." 

(Rogers.) 

But  soon  the  enemy's  armament,  etc. :  Plutarch's  chro- 
nology follows  very  closely  that  of  Herodotus.  If  we  accept 
September  28th  as  the  day  of  the  battle,  then  the  events  of 
this  chapter  occurred  on  the  preceding  day  and  night,  those 
of  c.  xi  {Herod.,  viii  56-63)  on  the  26th.  The  Greeks  were 
twice  panic-stricken,  first  on  news  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Athenian  citadel  {Herod.,  viii  56  ;  Plutarch,  Them.,  xi.  2), 
and  again  as  the  enemy  confronted  them  in  full  united  force 
{Herod.,  viii  70,74;  Plutarch,  Them.,  xii.  1).  Ephorus,  in 
his  rhetorical  story  (Diod.  Sic.,  xi  16),  eliminates  one  of 
these  frights,  and  blurs  the  sequence  of  events. 

Phalerum:  the  bay  and  roadstead  east  of  the  Piraeus, 
which  served  as  the  harbor  of  Athens  till  after  the  Persian 
wars.  See  c.  xix.  2. 

They  actually  decided  to  withdraw,  etc. :  the  council  de- 
scribed in  Herodotus,  viii  74, 75,  78,  did  not  get  as  far  as  this. 
The  first  council  {Herod.,  viii  56)  formally  voted  to  withdraw 
to  the  Isthmus.  Plutarch  is  simply  drawing  on  his  imagination. 

The  advantages  from  the  narrowness  of  the  straits  : 
these  are  drawn  out  at  length  in  the  speech  which  Herod- 


-XII.  2]      NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  205 

otus  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Themistocles  at  viiL  60.  See 
the  note  on  XL  3. 

XII.  2.  This  great  stratagem  of  Themistocles,  in  its  main 
features,  is  one  of  the  best  attested  incidents  in  ancient 
history ;  but  the  details  vary  curiously  in  their  later  tradi- 
tion. These  variations  may  best  be  studied  in  Bauer,  Plw- 
tarchs  Themistokles,  pp.  44  f. 

^Eschylus,  doubtless  an  eye-witness  of  the  battle  (see  the 
note  on  xiv.  1),  puts  a  long  description  of  it  in  the  mouth  of 
a  messenger  to  the  Persian  Queen-mother  (Persians,  353- 
432).  It  begins  thus: 

"The  author  of  the  mischief,  0  my  mistress, 
Was  some  foul  fiend  or  Power  on  evil  bent; 
For  lo !  a  Hellene  from  the  Athenian  host 
Came  to  my  son,  to  Xerxes,  and  spake  thus, "  etc.    (Plumptre.) 

Herodotus  says  (viii  75):  "  Then  Themistocles,  when  he 
saw  that  the  Peloponnesians  would  carry  the  vote  against 
him,  went  out  secretly  from  the  council,  and  instructing  a 
certain  man  what  he  should  say,  sent  him  on  board  a  mer- 
chant ship  to  the  fleet  of  the  Medes.  The  man's  name  was 
Sicinnus ;  he  was  one  of  Themistocles'  household  slaves,  and 
acted  as  psedagogue  to  his  sons;  in  after  times,  when  the 
Thespians  were  admitting  persons  to  citizenship,  Themistocles 
made  him  a  Thespian,  and  a  rich  man  to  boot." 

Thucydides  (i.  137,  4)  makes  Themistocles  note,  in  his 
letter  to  the  Persian  king  Artaxerxes,  "  how  he  had  fore- 
warned Xerxes  at  Salamis  of  the  resolution  of  the  Hellenes 
to  withdraw." 

Ephorus  (in  Died.  Sic.,  xv.  17,  1),  with  a  broad  view  of 
the  military  exigencies  in  the  case,  says:  "Themistocles 
persuaded  a  certain  man  to  desert  to  Xerxes  and  assure  him 
that  the  fleet  at  Salamis  was  going  to  forsake  its  position 
with  all  speed  and  assemble  at  the  Isthmus.  The  king  was 
convinced  of  the  trustworthiness  of  the  tidings,  and  was 
therefore  eager  to  prevent  the  naval  and  land  forces  of  the 
Hellenes  from  effecting  a  iunction." 


206  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES       [XII.  2- 

Of  Persian  stock,  a  prisoner  of  war :  either  Plutarch,  or 
the  author  of  the  tradition  he  is  following,  —  probably  Plu- 
tarch himself,  —  has  misread  his  Herodotus,  making  him 
mean  "  a  certain  man  of  the  Medes,"  instead  of  "  a  certain 
man  to  the  fleet  of  the  Medes."  The  error  is  found  only  in 
Plutarch. 

Psedagogue :  the  classical  sense  of  the  word  must  be  kept 
in  mind ;  not  teacher,  or  tutor,  but  overseer  and  guardian. 
A  trusty  slave  might  perform  the  office,  but  hardly  a  captive 
Persian. 

With  orders  to  say,  etc. :  the  message,  as  Plutarch  gives 
it,  blends  features  of  Herodotus  (viii  75)  and  Ephorus  (as 
above  cited). 

Encompass  the  strait  round  about,  etc. :  space  at  com- 
mand will  not  allow  anything  like  a  summary  of  the  discus- 
sions of  the  battle  of  Salamis.  The  special  literature  on  the 
subject  may  be  found  in  Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte,  ii.2  p. 
700.  One  of  the  ablest  papers  enumerated  there  is  that  by 
Professor  Goodwin,  in  the  Papers  of  the  American  School  at 
Athens,  i.  pp.  239-262,  and  it  is  accompanied  by  maps  and 
views.  Though  I  cannot  agree  with  Professor  Goodwin's 
conclusions,  his  presentation  of  evidence  for  reaching  a 
conclusion  is  exhaustive. 

Xerxes  had  planned  to  give  battle  in  the  great  bay  outside 
the  straits  of  Salamis  hi  which  the  island  of  Psyttaleia  lay 
(Herod.,  viii.  70).  On  receiving  the  message  of  Themistocles, 
Xerxes  changed  his  plan,  and  determined  to  surround  the 
ships  of  the  Greeks  where  they  lay  (in  the  harbor  of  the 
town  of  Salamis,  inside  the  narrow  strait),  in  order  to  prevent 
their  scattering  in  flight.  This  feat  was  accomplished  under 
cover  of  darkness,  by  extending  his  right  wing  through  the 
strait  of  Salamis  till  it  touched  the  northern  coast  of  the 
island  of  Salamis,  and  prevented  the  escape  of  Greek  ships 
into  the  bay  of  Eleusis,  and  so  round  to  the  south  and  the 
Isthmus.  No  squadron  was  sent  round  Salamis  to  blockade 
the  strait  between  Salamis  and  Megara.  Such  a  long  sail 
was  unnecessary  if  the  Greeks  could  be  shut  up  in  the 


(&)  ATTICA  AND  THE  SARONIC  GULF, 
(b)  THE  STRAITS  OF  SALAMIS. 


-XH.3]      NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  207 

harbor  of  Salamis.  The  tradition  of  such  a  squadron  being 
sent  around  the  island  of  Salamis  is  an  unwarranted  dupli- 
cation of  the  procedure  before  Artemisium  (vii  3  ;  Herod., 
viii  7-9).  There  is  nothing  in  the  language  of  ^schylus 
which  necessarily  implies  such  a  manoeuvre,  and  absolutely 
no  allusion  to  it  in  Herodotus.  He  says  (viii.  76)  :  "Then 
the  captains  "  (to  whom  Sicinnus  brought  his  message),  "  be- 
lieving all  that  the  messenger  had  said,  proceeded  to  land  a 
large  body  of  Persian  troops  on  the  islet  of  Psyttaleia,  which 
lies  between  Salamis  and  the  mainland ;  after  which,  about 
the  hour  of  midnight,  they  advanced  their  western  whig 
towards  Salamis,  so  as  to  inclose  the  Greeks.  At  the  same 
time  the  force  stationed  about  Ceos  and  Cynosura "  (a  cape 
of  Salamis  opposite  Psyttaleia)  "  moved  forward,  and  filled 
the  whole  strait  as  far  as  Munychia  "  (part  of  the  Pirseus) 
"  with  their  ships.  This  advance  was  made  to  prevent  the 
Greeks  from  escaping  by  flight,  and  to  block  them  up  in 
Salamis." 
JLschylus  says  (Persians,  361-368) : 

"  And  he  forthwith,  this  hearing,  knowing  not 
The  Hellene's  guile,  nor  yet  the  Gods'  great  envy, 
Gives  this  command  to  all  his  admirals, 
Soon  as  the  sun  should  cease  to  burn  the  earth 
With  his  bright  rays,  and  darkness  thick  invade 
The  firmament  of  Heaven,  to  set  their  ships 
In  three-fold  lines,  to  hinder  all  escape, 
And  guard  the  billowy  straits,  and  others  place 
In  circuit  round  about  the  isle  of  Aias."    (Plumptre.) 

Including  the  islands :  not  only  Psyttaleia,  but  also  those 
at  the  entrance  to  the  bay  of  Eleusis,  on  the  northwest  of  * 
the  Greek  position. 

XII.  3.  Compare  Herodotus,  viii.  79-82 ;  Plutarch,  Aris- 
tides, viii  The  latter  story  incorporates  the  speeches  of 
Themistocles  and  Aristides  given  by  Herodotus. 

The  tent  of  Themistocles :  in  Herodotus,  Aristides  calls 
Themistocles  out  of  the  council,  coming  across  from 


208  NOTES  ON  THE   THEMIS TOCLES        [XIL3- 

Went  round  to  the  other  generals,  etc. :  "  Then  Aristides 
entered  the  assembly,  and  spoke  to  the  captains:  he  had 
come,  he  told  them,  from  ^Egina,  and  had  but  barely  escaped 
the  blockading  vessels  —  the  Greek  fleet  was  entirely  in- 
closed by  the  ships  of  Xerxes  —  and  he  advised  them  to  get 
themselves  in  readiness  to  resist  the  foe.  Having  said  so 
much,  he  withdrew.  And  now  another  contest  arose,  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  captains  would  not  believe  the 
tidings"  (Herod.,  viii.  81). 

A  Tenian  trireme:  "But  while  they  still  doubted,  a 
Tenian  trireme,  commanded  by  Panaetius  the  son  of  Sosi- 
menes,  deserted  from  the  Persians  and  joined  the  Greeks, 
bringing  full  intelligence  "  (Herod.,  viii  82).  Tenos  was  one 
of  the  Cyclades  group  of  islands,  S.  E.  of  Attica.  Most  of 
the  Greek  islanders  accepted  Persian  service.  For  their 
patriotism  the  Tenians  "  were  inscribed  upon  the  tripod  at 
Delphi  among  those  who  overthrew  the  Barbarians  "  (Herod., 
viii  82). 

XIII.  1.  Was  seated  on  a  high  place :  JEschylus  (Per- 
sians, 465—471)  has  the  messenger  say  to  Atossa  : 

"  And  Xerxes,  when  he  saw  how  deep  the  ill, 
Groaned  out  aloud,  for  he  had  ta'en  his  seat 
With  clear,  wide  view  of  all  the  army  round, 
On  a  high  cliff  hard  by  the  opening  sea." 

"  During  the  whole  time  of  the  battle,"  Herodotus  says 
(viil  90),  "  Xerxes  sate  at  the  base  of  the  hill  called  ^Egaleos, 
over  against  Salamis ;  and  whenever  he  saw  any  of  his  own 
captains  perform  any  worthy  exploit,  he  enquired  concerning 
him ;  and  the  man's  name  was  taken  down  by  the  scribes, 
together  with  the  names  of  his  father  and  his  city." 

Phanodemus  :  see  the  Introduction,  p.  41. 

The  Heracleium :  this  sanctuary  of  Heracles  must  have 
been  on  the  lower  slope  of  Mt.  ^Egaleos,  just  opposite  the 
ancient  and  modem  ferry  between  Attica  and  the  island  and 
town  of  Salamis.  The  site  favors  the  view  that  the  Greeks 
were  surrounded  in  the  bay  and  harbor  of  the  town  of  Salamis, 


-XIII.  2]      NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  209 

and  not  simply  shut  up  in  the  strait  of  Salamis  by  besetting 
both  entrances. 

Acestodorus :  see  the  Introduction,  p.  45. 

The  so-called  "  Horns  "  :  according  to  Strabo  (ix.  p.  395  A), 
these  were  two  hills  on  the  shore  opposite  Salamis,  marking 
the  boundary  between  Attica  and  Megara.  This  would  put 
Xerxes  eight  or  nine  miles  N.  W.  of  the  scene  of  the  battle 
and  is,  of  course,  absurd. 

A  gilded  throne :  a  stretch  of  Plutarch's  fancy,  apparently. 
A  silver-footed  stool  was  long  preserved  on  the  Acropolis  at 
Athens  among  the  trophies  of  the  Persian  wars.  Demos- 
thenes, in  the  speech  against  Timocrates  (§  129),  delivered  in 
353  B.  c.,  accuses  a  certain  steward  of  these  trophies  of  pur- 
loining "  the  silver-footed  stool  and  the  scimetar  of  Mar- 
donius."  Hellenic  fancy  also  pictured  Xerxes  as  shielded 
from  the  sun  by  a  gilded  parasol  (c.  xvi.  2). 

To  make  due  record :  so  Alexander  and  Pompey,  makers 
of  history,  kept  historians  in  their  train  to  make  record  of 
events  while  they  were  fresh.  Csesar  was  his  own  historian. 
See  also  the  passage  from  Herodotus  cited  just  above. 

XIII.  2.  It  is  impossible  to  explain  the  origin  of  this 
incredible  story  from  Phanias.  Human  sacrifices  had  long 
since  ceased  in  Hellas.  Plutarch  refers  to  the  story  again 
in  his  Pelopidas,  xxi.,  where  he  tells  of  a  vision  of  Pelopidas 
just  before  the  battle  of  Leuctra,  which  seemed  to  demand 
a  human  sacrifice  if  the  Thebans  were  to  be  victorious  over 
the  Spartans.  Pelopidas,  like  Themistocles  in  the  present 
story,  shrinks  from  such  an  impious  deed;  but  certain 
prophets  urge  a  long  list  of  mythical  and  historical  examples 
in  justification :  Menoeceus  son  of  Creon,  Macaria  daughter 
of  Heracles,  and  Pherecydes  the  philosopher.  "Leonidas, 
again,  warned  by  the  oracle,  did  as  it  were  sacrifice  himself 
for  the  good  of  Greece ;  Themistocles  offered  human  victims 
to  Dionysus  Carniverous,  before  the  engagement  at  Salamis ; 
and  success  showed  their  actions  to  be  good."  It  is,  of 
course,  Plutarch's  list,  put  into  the  mouths  of  the  prophets 
in  his  story. 

14 


210  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES     [XIII.  2- 

Ephorus  (in  Diodorus  Siculus,  XL  57),  after  the  successful 
arrival  of  Themistocles  at  the  Persian  court,  in  the  manner 
described  by  Plutarch  in  c.  xxvi.,  has  one  Mandane",  daughter 
of  Darius  and  sister  of  Xerxes,  demand  vengeance  on  the 
fugitive  for  the  killing  of  her  sons  at  Salamis.  Themistocles 
is  permitted  to  plead  his  case  before  a  court  of  noble  PersianSi 
and,  after  mastering  the  Persian  language  for  the  purpose, 
proves  his  innocence  of  the  crime. 

In  his  Aristides,  ix.,  Plutarch  has  the  hero  capture  these 
three  beautiful  sons  of  Sandauce"  on  the  island  of  Psyttaleia, 
which  the  Persians  had  occupied.  But  to  make  his  story 
smooth,  he  is  obliged  to  transpose  the  exploit  of  Aristides  at 
Psyttaleia  from  a  point  following  the  victory  of  the  Greeks 
in  the  naval  battle,  where  ^Eschylus  (Persians,  454  ff.)  and 
Herodotus  (viii.  95)  put  it,  to  one  just  preceding  the  battle. 

Was  sacrificing :  to  get  favorable  omens  for  the  beginning 
of  the  action.  So  Pausanias  before  the  decisive  engagement 
at  Plataea  (Plutarch,  Aristides,  xvii  4),  and  the  Greek  com- 
manders frequently  in  Xenophon's  Anabasis  (e.g.  L  8,15; 
v.  6,  28). 

A  sneeze  gave  forth  its  good  omen  on  the  right :  a  better 
omen  on  the  right,  but  a  good  omen  anywhere.  In  the 
Odyssey,  xviL  541-545,  as  Penelope  advises  the  faithful 
swineherd  to  bring  to  her  the  beggar  (who  is  Odysseus  in 
disguise),  "  Telemachus  sneezed  loudly,  and  all  the  hall  gave 
a  great  echo.  Penelope  laughed,  and  to  Eumseus  straightway 
said  in  winged  words :  '  Pray  go  and  call  the  stranger  before 
me,  as  I  bade.  Do  you  not  notice  how  my  son  sneezed  at 
my  words  ? "  In  the  council  of  war  which  the  Greeks  hold 
after  the  treacherous  murder  of  their  generals  by  the  Per- 
sians, Xenophon  urges  downright  war  upon  the  faithless 
enemy  from  that  time  on :  " '  Then,  God  helping,  we  have 
many  a  bright  hope  of  safety.'  The  words  were  scarcely 
spoken  when  some  one  sneezed,  and  with  one  impulse  the 
soldiers  bowed  in  worship ;  and  Xenophon  proceeded :  '  I 
propose,  Sirs,  since,  even  as  we  spoke  of  safety,  an  omen  from 
Zeus  the  Savior  has  appeared,  we  vow  a  vow  to  sacrifice  to 


-XIV.  i]      NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  211 

the  Savior  thank-offerings  for  safe  deliverance,  wheresoever 
first  we  reach  a  friendly  country'"  {Anabasis,  iii.  2,  9, 
Dakyns). 

Clasped  by  the  hand :  in  glad  congratulation  on  the  good 
omens. 

Dionysus  Carniverous :  the  epithet  was  due  to  the  wild 
orgies  of  the  bacchanals,  in  which  animals  were  torn  limb 
from  limb  and  devoured.  So  Pentheus,  in  the  awful  myth, 
is  torn  asunder  by  his  mother  and  her  attendant  bacchantes. 

Phanias  the  Lesbian:  see  the  Introduction,  p.  43. 

XIV.  1.  The  play  of  ^Eschylus  from  which  Plutarch  cites 
here  (see  the  notes  on  v.  4,  and  xii.  2),  is  our  earliest  source 
of  information  about  the  battle  of  Salamis,  and  was  doubt- 
less used  by  Herodotus.  It  is  probable  that  ^schylus  was 
an  eye-witness  of  the  battle.  If  the  passage  in  ^Eschylus  be 
interpreted  in  harmony  with  its  context,  then  ^schylus 
and  Herodotus  agree  on  the  number  1207  as  the  total  of  the 
barbarian  ships.  At  any  rate,  this  number  became  firmly 
fixed  in  tradition.  The  three  verses  which  Plutarch  cites  do 
not  of  themselves  make  it  necessary  to  regard  the  207  ships 
"  of  surpassing  speed  "  as  additional  to  the  1000  ;  but  the 
context  makes  it  plain  that  the  author  of  the  verses  so  re- 
garded them.  The  passage  in  full  is  as  follows  (after 
Plumptre,  verses  340-346) : 

"  As  far  as  numbers  went,  be  sure,  the  ships 
Of  Persia  had  the  better,  for  the  Hellenes 
Had  as  their  total  ships  but  fifteen  score, 
And  other  ten  selected  as  reserve  ; 
But  Xerxes  (well  I  know  it)  had  a  thousand 
Which  he  commanded;  those  that  most  excelled 
In  speed  were  twice  five  score  and  seven  in  number ; 
So  stands  the  account." 

For  both  fleets  the  messenger  to  the  Persian  Queen  enumer- 
ates first  the  ordinary  sailers,  then  the  additional  reserve  of 
swift  sailers.  And  so  Herodotus  understood  the  testimony 
of  the  passage,  as  is  likely,  though  he  uses  it  for  his  enumer- 


212  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES     [XIV.  i- 

ation  of  the  fleets  in  vil  89-99,  at  a  point  in  his  story  before 
the  engagements  at  Artemisium.  The  losses  of  the  Persian 
fleet  in  storm  and  battle  before  the  engagement  at  Salamis 
he  makes  good  by  his  questionable  assumption  (viiL  66)  of 
reinforcements  from  medising  Greeks. 

One  hundred  and  eighty :  given  as  two  hundred  at  xi.  3, 
where  the  rhetoric  makes  the  round  number  perfectly  natural. 

XIV.  2.  Plutarch  here  either  adds  of  his  own  invention, 
or  borrows  from  some  source  unknown  to  us  the  detail  of  the 
sea-breeze  which  increased  the  discomfiture  of  the  Persians. 
Such  a  sea-breeze  would  not  rise  till  late  in  the  forenoon,  as 
Col.  Leake  (Demi  of  Attica,  p.  203,  note)  pointed  out ;  whereas 
both  yEschylus  and  Herodotus  represent  the  battle  as  be- 
ginning at  daybreak  (Persians,  389  f. ;  Herod.,  viii.  83). 

The  admiral  of  Xerxes,  Ariamenes :  enumerating  the 
losses  on  both  sides  in  the  battle,  Herodotus  says  (viii  89) : 
"  There  fell  in  this  combat  Ariabignes,  the  commander,  son 
of  Darius  and  brother  of  Xerxes,  and  with  him  perished  a 
vast  number  of  men  of  high  repute,  Persians,  Medes,  and 
allies."  This,  with  expansion  by  Ephorus  (Diod.  Sic.,  xi  18, 
5),  may  be  the  basis  for  Plutarch's  graphic  story  here.  Of 
an  Ariamenes  he  also  tells  the  story  (De  fratcrno  amore, 
xviii.  =  Morals,  p.  488  D  —  F)  that  on  the  death  of  Darius  the 
succession  to  his  throne  was  claimed  both  by  his  eldest  son 
by  a  first  marriage,  Ariamenes,  and  by  Xerxes,  the  eldest  son 
by  a  second  marriage  with  Atossa ;  but  that  when  the  case 
was  decided  in  favor  of  Xerxes  by  its  arbiter,  "  Ariamenes 
presently  started  up,  and  went  and  showed  obeisance  to  his 
brother,  and  taking  him  by  the  hand,  placed  him  in  the 
throne.  And  from  that  time,  being  placed  himself  by  Xerxes 
next  in  the  kingdom,  he  continued  the  same  affection  to  him, 
insomuch  that,  for  his  brother's  honor  engaging  himself  in 
the  naval  fight  at  Salamis,  he  was  killed  there.  And  this 
may  serve  for  a  clear  and  unquestionable  instance  of  true 
kindness  and  greatness  of  mind."  Of  this  story  Plutarch  is 
clearly  thinking  when  he  calls  Ariamenes,  just  below, 
"  strongest  and  justest  of  the  King's  brothers." 


-XIV.  3]     NOTES    ON  THE    THEMIS TOCLES  213 

The  Ariabignes  of  Herodotus  is  only  one  of  four  com- 
manders of  the  fleet  of  Xerxes  (vii  97),  and  the  eldest  son  of 
Darius  by  his  first  marriage  is  called  Artabazanes  by  him 
(vii.  2,  3),  in  an  account  of  the  dispute  for  the  succession 
differing  in  other  details  widely  from  Plutarch's.  The  glori- 
fication of  Themistocles  by  putting  the  enemy's  commander- 
in-chief  over  against  him  is  quite  in  the  manner  of  Ephorus, 
if  not  borrowed  from  him. 

XIV.  3.  In  the  nomenclature  of  this  paragraph  Plutarch 
either  makes  a  jumble  of  his  Herodotean  and  Ephorean  rem- 
iniscences, or  is  using  some  source  unknown  to  us  who  thus 
varies  the  details  of  Herodotus. 

Ameinias  the  Deceleian :  according  to  the  Athenian  tra- 
dition given  by  Herodotus  (viii.  84),  an  Ameinias  of  Pallene, 
one  of  the  Athenian  captains,  was  first  to  charge  down  upon 
a  ship  of  the  enemy.  "  The  two  vessels  became  entangled, 
and  could  not  separate,  whereupon  the  rest  of  the  fleet  came 
up  to  help  Ameinias,  and  engaged  with  the  Persians."  This 
Ameinias  of  Pallene,  too,  is  one  of  the  three  men  singled  out 
by  Herodotus  (viii.  93)  for  individual  praise.  The  genial  com- 
bination which  Plutarch  is  freely  following  may  perhaps  be 
seen  in  (Ephorus)  Diodorus,  xi.  27,  where  the  meed  of  greatest 
valor  is  awarded  to  ^Egina  from  among  the  cities,  but  to  Amei- 
nias from  among  individual  men,  —  "  Ameinias,  an  Athenian, 
the  brother  of  yEschylus  the  poet.  He  was  commander  of  a 
trireme,  and  the  first  to  ram  down  the  admiral's  ship  of  the 
Persians ;  this  he  sank,  and  killed  the  admiral"  Now  Amei- 
nias of  Pallene  cannot  have  been  a  brother  of  ^schylus,  who 
was  an  Eleusinian  by  deme.  The  relationship  to  the  poet  was 
coined  by  some  story-teller  who  was  bent  on  having  a  brother 
of  the  poet  as  prominent  in  the  accounts  of  Salamis  as  Cyne- 
geirus,  son  of  Euphorion,  was  in  those  of  Marathon  (Herod.,  vL 
114).  For  the  name  of  ^Eschylus'  father  was  also  Euphorion 
(Herod.,  ii  156),  from  which  it  was  early  (and  with  some 
reason)  assumed  that  ^Eschylus  and  Cynegeirus  were 
brothers.  A  later  historian  still  (Aristodemus,  of  uncertain 
date)  smooths  all  difficulties  away  by  making  Ameinias 


214  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES      [XIV.  s- 

"  an  Athenian,  son  of  Euphorion,  brother  of  Cynegeirus  and 
./Eschylus."  And  so  the  Life  of  jflschylus,  a  late  compilation 
which  has  come  down  to  us,  has  the  poet  take  part  in  the 
battle  of  Marathon  with  his  brother  Cynegeirus,  in  the  battle 
of  Salamis  with  the  youngest  of  his  brothers,  Ameinias,  and 
also  in  the  battles  at  Plataea.  What  purports  to  be  the 
epitaph  on  the  poet's  grave  at  Gela  in  Sicily,  an  epigram  of 
uncertain  age  (Life,  §  10),  speaks  of  the  poet's  valor  at  Mara- 
thon. But  we  have  explicit  and  trustworthy  evidence  only 
to  his  presence  at  Salamis,  namely,  the  word  of  Ion  of  Chios 
(see  the  Introduction,  p.  32). 

Socles  the  Paeanian :  otherwise  unknown.  The  adjective 
of  the  deme  is  corrected,  with  Blass,  from  that  meaning 
"  Pedian." 

Artemisia :  the  heroine  of  Salamis  in  Herodotus,  on  whose 
exploits  in  battle  and  in  council  the  historian  fondly  dwells. 
She  was  queen  of  Halicarnassus,  the  native  city  of  Herodo- 
tus in  Caria,  and  of  three  neighboring  islands,  which  she 
governed  as  vassal  of  Xerxes.  "  Of  the  other  lower  officers 
I  shall  make  no  mention,  since  no  necessity  is  laid  on  me ; 
but  I  must  speak  of  a  certain  leader  named  Artemisia,  whose 
participation  in  the  attack  upon  Greece,  notwithstanding 
that  she  was  a  woman,  moves  my  special  wonder  .  .  .  and 
the  five  triremes  which  she  furnished  to  the  Persians  were, 
next  to  the  Sidonians,  the  most  famous  ships  in  the  fleet. 
She  likewise  gave  to  Xerxes  sounder  counsel  than  any  of  his 
other  allies."  (Herod.,  vii  99  ;  compare  also  viii.  68,  69,  87, 
88,  93,  101-103.) 

XV.  1.  At  this  stage  of  the  struggle :  some  time  after 
the  battle  had  begun.  Herodotus  (viii  65)  has  the  Eleu- 
sinian  omen  occur  some  time  before  the  battle,  apparently 
the  day  before  (see  the  notes  on  xii  1). 

On  one  of  the  days  of  the  great  Eleusinian  festival,  which 
was  usually  celebrated  during  a  period  including  the  day  on 
which  the  battle  of  Salamis  was  fought,  the  sacred  image  of 
lacchus  (the  Eleusinian  Dionysus)  was  escorted  in  a  tri- 
umphal procession  of  all  the  initiated  along  the  sacred  way 


-XV.  i]       NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  215 

from  Athens  to  Eleusis.  It  was  natural  that  the  feeling 
should  arise  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  Attica,  who  had 
been  driven  to  their  ships,  while  their  country  was  ravaged 
by  the  troops  of  Xerxes,  that  the  great  day  of  the  festival 
could  not  pass  without  some  token  from  the  gods  of  the 
festival  showing  sympathy  with  their  worshippers  and  hostil- 
ity to  the  impious  invaders.  The  procession  was  made  at 
the  appointed  time  by  shadowy  celebrants  !  A  cloud  of 
their  hopes  and  prayers  passed  out  to  the  fleet  that  was  to 
make  possible  a  renewal  of  the  religious  rites  so  rudely 
interrupted  by  the  barbarian  despoilers  !  « 

Herodotus  gives  the  story  startling  verisimilitude  by  put- 
ting it  into  the  mouth  of  Dicaeus,  an  Athenian  exile  among 
the  Medes.  Dicaeus  chanced  to  be  in  the  Thriasian  plain 
about  Eleusis  in  company  with  a  famous  Spartan  exile, 
Demaratus,  who  was  a  confidant  and  adviser  of  the  Persian 
King.  He  declared  "that  while  there  he  saw  a  cloud  of 
dust  advancing  from  Eleusis,  such  as  a  host  of  thirty  thou- 
sand men  might  raise.  As  he  and  his  companion  were 
wondering  who  the  men  from  whom  the  dust  came  could 
possibly  be,  a  sound  of  voices  reached  his  ear,  and  he 
thought  that  he  recognized  the  mystic  hymn  to  lacchus. 
Now  Demaratus  was  unacquainted  with  the  rites  of  Eleusis, 
and  so  he  enquired  of  Dicseus  what  the  voices  were  saying. 
Dicaeus  made  answer :  '  0  Demaratus,  beyond  a  doubt  some 
mighty  calamity  is  about  to  befall  the  King's  army  !  For  it 
is  manifest,  inasmuch  as  Attica  is  deserted  by  its  inhabi- 
tants, that  the  sound  which  we  have  heard  is  an  unearthly 
one,  and  is  now  upon  its  way  from  Eleusis  to  aid  the  Athe- 
nians and  their  confederates.  ...  If  it  moves  toward  the 
ships  at  Salamis,  't  will  go  hard  but  the  King's  fleet  there 
suffers  destruction.  Every  year  the  Athenians  celebrate  this 
feast  to  the  Mother  and  the  Daughter;  and  all  who  wish, 
whether  they  be  Athenians  or  any  other  Greeks,  are  initi- 
ated. The  cry  thou  hearest,  is  the  cry  to  lacchus  which  is 
raised  at  this  festival'  .  .  .  And  they  looked  and  saw  the 
dust  from  which  the  sound  arose  become  a  cloud,  and  the 


216  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES       [XV.  i- 

cloud  rise  up  into  the  air  and  sail  away  to  Salamis,  making 
for  the  station  of  the  Grecian  fleet." 

They  say :  probably  Plutarch's  substitute  for  the  more 
elaborate  device  of  Herodotus,  —  the  "  tale  told  by  Dicaeus." 
Plutarch  condenses  his  Herodotus  for  the  whole  item. 

A  great  light  flamed  out :  a  clever  addition  by  Plutarch, 
as  he  thinks  of  the  flaming  torches  carried  by  the  thirty 
thousand  mystics.  For  further  details  of  the  Eleusinian 
mysteries,  see  Gardner  and  Jevons,  Manual  of  Greek  Anti- 
quities, pp.  274-286. 

Armed  men  from  JEgina,  .  .  .  the  ^acidae :  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  day  before  the  battle,  according  to  Herodotus, 
"  prayers  were  offered  to  all  the  gods,  and  Telamon  and  Ajax 
were  invoked  at  once  from  Salamis,  while  a  ship  was  sent  to 
.flSgina  to  fetch  ^Eacus  himself,  and  the  other  ^Eacids  "  (viii. 
64).  On  the  following  morning,  "  at  the  dawn  of  day,  all 
the  men  at  arms  were  assembled  together,  and  speeches  were 
made  to  them,  of  which  the  best  was  that  of  Themistocles ; 
who  throughout  contrasted  what  was  noble  with  what  was 
base,  and  bade  them,  hi  all  that  came  within  the  range  of 
man's  nature  and  constitution,  always  to  make  choice  of  the 
nobler  part.  Having  thus  wound  up  his  discourse,  he  told 
them  to  go  at  once  on  board  their  ships,  which  they  accord- 
ingly did ;  and  about  this  time  the  trireme  that  had  been 
sent  to  ^Egina  for  the  ^Eacidae,  returned ;  whereupon  the 
Greeks  put  to  sea  with  all  their  fleet "  (viii.  83).  Peleus 
and  Telamon  were  sons,  Achilles  and  Ajax  grandsons  of 
^Eacus. 

XV.  2.  Lycomedes :  speaking  of  the  first  day's  battle  at 
Arternisiuin,  Herodotus  says  (viii.  11)  :  "  The  first  who  made 
prize  of  a  ship  of  the  enemy  was  Lycomedes,  the  son  of 
^Eschreas,  an  Athenian,  who  was  afterwards  adjudged  the 
meed  of  valor."  Plutarch,  writing  freely  from  memory, 
transfers  the  incident  to  Salamis.  In  viii.  84  (cited  on  xiv. 
3),  Herodotus  has  Ameinias  the  Athenian  open  the  battle, 
by  attacking  a  ship  of  the  enemy.  "  Such  is  the  account," 
he  continues,  "  which  the  Athenians  give  of  the  way  in 


-XVI.  i]      NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  217 

which  the  battle  began ;  but  the  JSginetans  maintain  that 
the  vessel  which  had  been  to  ^Egina  for  the  ^Eacidye,  was 
the  one  that  brought  on  the  fight.  It  is  also  reported  that 
a  phantom  in  the  form  of  a  woman  appeared  to  the  Greeks, 
and,  in  a  voice  that  was  heard  from  end  to  end  of  the  fleet, 
cheered  them  on  to  the  fight." 

Dedicated  it  to  Apollo  Daphnephoros  at  Phlya :  Plu- 
tarch probably  found  the  inscription  of  the  votive  offering 
given  in  the  same  authority  whom  he  uses  for  the  evi- 
dence in  L  3,  —  Phanodemus,  or  some  other  Atthis-writeT. 
The  inscription  probably  did  not  mention  the  name  of  the 
battle,  thus  making  Plutarch's  error  possible. 

Athenseus  (p.  424  F)  speaks  of  a  Daphnephoreium,  or 
temple  of  Apollo  Daphnephoros  (Lauriger,  of  the  laurel 
crown)  at  Phlya. 

Till  the  evening  drew  on :  so  JSschylus,  Persians,  429- 
431:  — 

' '  And  bitter  groans  and  wailings  overspread 
The  wide  sea-waves,  till  eye  of  swarthy  night 
Bade  it  all  cease." 

As  Simonides  says :  see  the  note  on  i.  3,  and  the  Introduc- 
tion, pp.  29  f. 

XVI.  1.  After  the  sea-fight :  it  is  impossible  to  decide,  so 
conflicting  are  the  various  traditions,  what  really  followed 
at  once  upon  the  battle  of  Salamis.  Of  course,  as  time  went 
on,  the  patriotic  tradition  of  Athens  would  magnify  the 
panic  element  in  the  retirement  of  Xerxes  from  his  attempt 
to  subjugate  the  Greeks.  Even  as  early  as  472,  when  the 
Persians  of  ^Eschylus  was  produced,  both  fleet  and  land 
army  of  Xerxes  are  represented  as  flying  panic-stricken 
immediately  after  the  battle  (w.  471  f.,  482  ff.).  Details  of 
disastrous  flight  multiplied  as  Greek  fancy  dwelt  upon  the 
theme,  so  that  the  accounts  of  Herodotus  (viii.  96-120)  are 
a  curious  blend  of  fact  and  fiction.  He  found  them  current 
at  Athens,  and  reproduced  them,  with  many  of  their  contra- 
dictions and  inconsistencies  unexplained.  Later  tradition 
tended  rather  to  eliminate  the  facts  and  increase  the  fiction. 


218  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLE8      [XVL 1- 

Thucydides,  in  the  great  excursus  (L  128-138)  on  the  careers 
of  Pausanias  and  Themistocles,  —  "the  two  most  famous 
Hellenes  of  their  day," —  evidently  found  it  hard  to  make 
critical  headway  through  the  mass  of  conflicting  detail  He 
clearly  accepts,  however,  the  second  "  stratagem  "  of  Themis- 
tocles, by  which  the  retreat  of  Xerxes  was  hastened  through 
fear  that  the  Greeks  would  destroy  his  bridge  of  boats  at 
the  Hellespont.  He  makes  Themistocles  say  in  a  letter  to 
Artaxerxes :  "  'And  there  is  a  debt  of  gratitude  due  to  me ' 
(here  noting  how  he  had  forewarned  Xerxes  at  Salamis  of 
the  resolution  of  the  Hellenes  to  withdraw,  and  how  through 
his  influence,  as  he  pretended,  they  had  refrained  at  that 
time  from  breaking  down  the  bridges)." 

The  course  of  events  as  given  by  Herodotus  is  as  follows : 
the  Greeks  awaited  at  Salamis  a  renewal  of  the  engagement 
by  the  King  on  the  following  day  (c.  96)  ;  Xerxes,  seeing 
the  extent  of  his  losses,  and  fearing  for  the  safety  of  his 
bridges  at  the  Hellespont,  "  made  up  his  mind  to  fly ;  but  as 
he  wished  to  hide  his  purpose  alike  from  the  Greeks  and 
from  his  own  people,  he  set  to  work  to  carry  a  mound  across 
the  channel  to  Salamis,  .  .  .  and  likewise  made  many  war- 
like preparations,  as  if  he  were  about  to  engage  the  Greeks 
once  more  at  sea"  (c.  97).  Mardonius,  reading  the  King's 
thought,  heartens  him  up,  and  urges  him  to  leave  with 
himself  a  picked  force  for  the  further  subjugation  of  Greece 
(cc.  97,  100).  The  councillors  of  Xerxes,  and  especially 
Artemisia,  second  this  advice  of  Mardonius  (cc.  101,  102), 
and  it  is  adopted  (cc.  103,  107). 

All  this,  apparently,  took  place  on  the  day  following  the 
battle.  "During  this  day  he  did  no  more;  but  no  sooner 
was  night  come  than  he  issued  his  orders,  and  at  once  the 
captains  of  the  ships  left  Phalerum,  and  bore  away  for  the 
Hellespont,  each  making  all  the  speed  he  could,  and  hasting 
to  guard  the  bridges  against  the  King's  return"  (c.  107). 
"  Next  day  the  Greeks,  seeing  the  land  forces  of  the  Bar- 
barians encamped  in  the  same  place"  (opposite  Salamis), 
"thought  that  their  ships  must  still  be  lying  at  Phalerum; 


-XVI.  i]      NOTES   ON   THE  THEMISTOCLES  219 

and  expecting  another  attack  from  that  quarter,  made  prep- 
arations to  defend  themselves.  Soon,  however,  news  came 
that  the  ships  were  all  departed  and  gone  away ;  whereupon 
it  was  instantly  resolved  to  make  sail  in  pursuit.  They 
went  as  far  as  Andros;  but  seeing  nothing  of  the  Persian 
fleet,  they  stopped  at  that  place,  and  held  a  council  of 
war"  (c.  108). 

At  this  council  of  war,  Themistocles,  in  good  earnest, 
urges  the  pursuit  of  the  Persian  fleet  and  the  destruction 
of  the  bridges,  and  is  heartily  seconded  by  all  the  Athe- 
nians. But  Eurybiades  argues  against  the  pursuit,  with  much 
the  same  reasoning  that  is  put  by  Plutarch,  in  this  chapter, 
into  the  mouth  of  Aristides,  and  is  supported  by  all  the 
Peloponnesian  captains  (c.  109).  Themistocles  therefore 
gives  up  his  pet  scheme,  and  brings  the  almost  rebellious 
Athenians  over  to  the  Spartan  policy  (cc.  109,  110).  This 
magnanimous  conduct  was  perverted  into  treachery  by  the 
malice  of  the  tradition  which  grew  up  during  Themistocles' 
residence  in  Persia,  and  Herodotus  voices  this  malice  when 
he  says :  "  All  this  Themistocles  said  "  (to  the  Athenians) 
"in  the  hope  of  establishing  a  hold  upon  the  King;  for 
he  wanted  to  have  a  safe  retreat  in  case  any  mischance 
should  befall  him  at  Athens,  —  which  indeed  came  to 
pass  afterwards"  (c.  109). 

Having  won  the  Athenians  over  to  his  conciliatory  views, 
Themistocles  then  devises  the  "stratagem"  told  also  by 
Plutarch  in  this  chapter  (§  3).  "  He  lost  no  time  in  sending 
messengers,  on  board  a  light  bark,  to  the  King,  choosing  for 
this  purpose  men  whom  he  could  trust  to  keep  his  instruc- 
tions secret,  even  although  they  should  be  put  to  every  kind 
of  torture.  Among  these  was  the  house-slave  Sicimms,  the 
same  whom  he  had  made  use  of  previously  (Plut.,  Them., 
xii.  2).  When  the  men  reached  Attica,  all  the  others  stayed 
with  the  boat ;  but  Sicinnus  went  up  to  the  King,  and  spake 
to  him  as  follows :  '  I  am  sent  to  thee  by  Themistocles,  the 
son  of  Neocles,  who  is  the  leader  of  the  Athenians,  and  the 
wisest  and  bravest  man  of  all  the  allies,  to  bear  thee  this 


220  NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES      [XVI.  i- 

message :  "  Themistocles  the  Athenian,  anxious  to  render  thee 
a  service,  has  restrained  the  Greeks,  who  were  impatient  to 
pursue  thy  ships,  and  to  break  up  the  bridges  at  the  Helles- 
pont. Now,  therefore,  return  home  at  thy  leisure."  ' " 

"King  Xerxes  and  his  army,"  Herodotus  goes  on  (c.  113), 
"  waited  but  a  few  days  after  the  sea-fight,  and  then  withdrew 
into  Boaotia."  In  Thessaly,  Mardonius  selected  the  flower 
of  the  army  for  his  campaign  of  the  next  year,  three  hundred 
thousand  in  alL  There  Xerxes  left  him,  and  in  forty-five 
days  reached  the  Hellespont  (c.  115).  Greek  traditions 
distorted  an  orderly  and  successful  retreat,  with  due  pro- 
visions for  continuing  a  successful  campaign,  into  catas- 
trophic flight  (cc.  115-119). 

Ephorus,  as  represented  in  Diodorus,  xi.  19,  has  clearly 
influenced  Plutarch  somewhat  in  his  description  of  this 
stratagem.  His  account  of  these  matters  is  as  follows: 
"  The  King,  thus  unexpectedly  defeated,  put  to  death  the 
most  culpable  of  the  Phoanicians  who  began  the  flight,  and 
threatened  the  rest  with  the  infliction  of  suitable  punish- 
ment. So  the  Phoanicians,  fearing  these  threats,  for  the 
time  being  halted  on  the  coast  of  Attica,  but  during  the 
coming  night  put  off  for  Asia.  Then  Themistocles,  who 
was  given  the  credit  of  the  victory,  devised  another  strata- 
gem greater  than  his  first.  He  saw  that  the  Hellenes 
feared  to  contend  with  their  land  forces  against  so  many 
myriads,  and  therefore  greatly  reduced  the  numbers  of  the 
enemy's  infantry,  somewhat  after  this  fashion.  He  de- 
spatched the  psedagogue  of  his  own  sons  to  Xerxes  to  tell 
him  that  the  Hellenes  intended  to  sail  to  where  the  shores 
of  the  Hellespont  were  spanned,  and  destroy  the  bridge. 
Therefore  the  King,  believing  a  story  which  was  so  plausi- 
ble, was  filled  with  fear  lest  he  be  cut  off  from  his  retreat 
to  Asia,  now  that  the  Hellenes  controlled  the  sea,  and  deter- 
mined to  cross  from  Europe  into  Asia  by  the  speediest  route, 
leaving  Mardonius  to  threaten  Hellas  with  the  flower  of  his 
cavalry  and  infantry,  the  total  number  of  which  was  not 
less  than  four  hundred  thousand.  Thus  by  his  use  of  two 


-XVI.  i]     NOTES  ON  THE   THEMIS TOCLES           221 

stratagems  Themistocles  gained  great  advantages  for  the 
Hellenes." 

Plutarch  recounts  the  same  matters  once  more  in  his 
Aristides,  ix.  3,  which  version  should  be  carefully  com- 
pared with  this  earlier  version  of  the  Themistocles,  and 
with  those  of  Herodotus  and  Ephorus  cited  above. 

Amid  such  conflicting  testimonies  it  is  hard  to  fix  upon 
the  residuum  of  historical  truth.  No  two  students  of  the 
testimony  could  perfectly  agree.  Even  the  second  strata- 
gem may  be  questioned.  It  was  not  needed.  Xerxes  was 
perfectly  aware  that  if  the  Hellenes  once  commanded  the 
sea,  his  communications  at  the  Hellespont  were  in  danger. 
He  needed  no  message  to  tell  him  that.  But  popular  imag- 
ination insisted  on  making  a  "  doublet "  of  the  first  strata- 
gem, and  this  was  part  and  parcel  of  current  popular  tradition 
when  Herodotus  wrote,  fifty  years  after  the  events.  It  was 
so  integral  a  part  that  even  the  critical  Thucydides,  writing 
perhaps  thirty  years  after  Herodotus,  did  not  venture  to 
eliminate  it  entirely. 

The  barest  skeleton  of  event,  then,  on  which  the  reader  of 
the  testimony  may  put  whatever  clothing  of  detail  seems 
necessary,  would  be  this:  The  Greeks  underrated  their 
success,  and  Xerxes  overrated  his  disaster;  to  cover  prep- 
arations for  retreat,  Xerxes  began  offensive  operations  with 
land  and  sea  forces,  but  soon,  fearing  for  his  communications, 
sent  his  fleet  to  the  Hellespont  to  protect  them ;  the  Athenian 
policy  was  to  pursue  the  Persian  fleet,  the  Spartan,  as  con- 
stantly up  to  this  time,  to  hug  the  Peloponnesus.  The 
Athenians,  as  before,  yielded,  in  the  interests  of  harmony, 
to  the  Spartan  ideas.  The  land  forces  of  Xerxes,  after  a 
short  time,  retired,  in  leisurely  fashion,  to  the  friendly  and 
fruitful  plains  of  Thessaly,  where  the  mass  and  flower  of  the 
army  went  into  winter  quarters,  and  resumed  operations  in 
the  spring  under  the  command  of  Mardonius  (Aristides,  x.). 

Themistooles,  merely  by  way  of  sounding  Aristides: 
this  concentration  of  detail  upon  the  two  contrasting  person- 
alities of  the  time,  instead  of  leaving  it  with  two  parties,  the 


222  NOTES   ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES     [XVI.  i- 

Athenians  and  Spartans,  or  even  with  two  less  effectively 
contrasted  personalities,  as  Themistocles  and  Eurybiades,  is 
constantly  seen  in  the  study  of  historical  tradition.  It  be- 
came impossible  for  popular  tradition,  or  his  literary  eulo- 
gists, to  allow  so  ideally  cunning  a  man  as  Themistocles  to 
be  less  far-sighted  than  a  rival,  and  therefore  his  short-sighted 
proposition  is  represented  to  be  merely  a  ruse  to  test  that 
rival 

XVI.  2.  A  certain  royal  eunuch  ...  by  name  Arnaces : 
having  made  (or  adopted)  an  error  in  his  story  of  the  first 
stratagem  (see  the  note  on  xiL  2),  Plutarch  must  have  a 
second  "Persian"  for  the  second  message.  He  has  shut 
himself  out  from  using  the  taking  device,  in  the  version 
selected  by  Herodotus,  of  having  the  same  messenger  for 
both  stratagems.  And  yet  in  the  briefer  version  of  the  in- 
cident in  the  Aristides,  c.  ix.  3,  Plutarch  forgets  his  own  pro- 
cedure in  the  Themistocles,  xii.  2,  and  has  his  Themistocles 
there  send  "once  more  the  eunuch  Arnaces,  a  prisoner 
of  war." 

XVI.  3.   The  merest  fraction  of  the  armies  of  Xerxes : 
this  is  the  trait  so  clearly  seen  in  the  story  of  Ephorus  cited 
above  on  xvL  1. 

XVII.  1.   Herodotus  says :  "  The  Greeks  who  gained  the 
greatest  glory  of  all  in  the  sea-fight  of   Salamis  were  the 
^Eginetans,  and  after  them  the  Athenians  "  (viii.  93).     There 
is  much  earlier  testimony  in  the  fourth  Isthmian  Ode  of 
Pindar,  composed  soon  after  the  battle  of  Salamis  in  com- 
memoration of  an  athletic  victory  of  an  ^Eginetan  youth, 
Phylacidas.     After  singing  of  the  exploits  of  the  mythical 
heroes  of  ^Egina,  the  poet  comes  down  to  the  recent  Persian 
wars  :  "  and  even  but  now  in  war  might  Aias'  city,  Salamis, 
bear  witness  to  her  deliverance  by  ^Egina's  seamen  amid  the 
destroying  tempest  of  Zeus,  when  death  came  thick  as  hail 
on  the  unnumbered  hosts  "  (w.  48-50).     Of  course,  in  time, 
and  especially  after  the  destruction  of  the  ^Eguietan  fleet  by 
Athens  (see  the  note  on  iv.  1),  popular  sentiment  at  Athens 
became  reluctant  to  admit  the  old-time  naval  superiority  of 


-XVH.1]     NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES 

./Egina.  Herodotus,  greatly  to  his  credit,  resists  this  feel- 
ing, and  records  the  consensus  of  Hellenic  feeling  immedi- 
ately after  Salamis.  He  even  repeats  the  record.  After 
the  division  of  the  booty  at  Salamis,  and  the  dedication  of 
the  first  fruits  of  victory  to  the  god  at  Delphi,  "  the  Greeks 
made  enquiry  of  the  god,  in  the  name  of  their  whole  body,  if 
he  had  received  his  full  share  of  the  spoils  and  was  satisfied 
therewith.  The  god  made  answer  that  all  the  other  Greeks 
had  paid  him  full  due,  except  only  the  .<Eginetans ;  on  them 
he  had  still  a  claim  for  the  prize  of  valor  which  they  had 
gained  at  Salamis.  So  the  ^Eginetans,  when  they  heard  this, 
dedicated  the  three  golden  stars  which  stand  on  the  top  of 
a  bronze  mast,  in  the  corner  near  the  bowl  offered  by 
Croasus  "(viiL  122).  There  was  monumental  evidence,  then, 
to  this  ./Eginetan  glory,  and  Delphic  evidence,  toward  which 
Herodotus  is  always  very  deferential. 

By  the  time  of  Ephorus,  a  century  later,  Athenian  senti- 
ment did  not  hesitate  to  detract  from  this  ^Eginetan  glory. 
The  Spartans,  it  was  said,  were  jealous  of  the  power  and 
prestige  of  Athens,  and  had  therefore  tried  to  humble  her 
pride.  "Hence  when  the  vote  was  taken  on  the  prize  of 
valor,  they  relied  upon  their  greater  popularity  to  force  a 
verdict  that,  of  the  cities,  ^gina  should  have  the  prize,  of 
individuals,  Ameinias  an  Athenian,  the  brother  of  ^Eschylus 
the  poet "  (Diodorus,  XL  27,  2). 

Plutarch  evidently  sympathizes  here  with  the  feeling  that 
Athens  deserved  the  meed  of  valor  in  the  battle  of  Salamis, 
in  spite  of  what  Herodotus  says.  In  his  treatise  "  On  the 
Malice  of  Herodotus,"  c.  xL  (Morals,  p.  871  C,  D),  he  flouts 
the  testimony  of  Herodotus,  and  accuses  him  of  inventing 
the  monumental  evidence  at  Delphi  This  had  disappeared 
long  before  the  time  of  Plutarch. 

The  generals  withdrew  to  the  Isthmus,  etc. :  "  When  the 
spoils  had  been  divided,  the  Greeks  sailed  to  the  Isthmus, 
where  a  prize  of  valor  was  to  be  awarded  to  the  man  who,  of 
all  the  Greeks,  had  shown  the  most  merit  during  the  war. 
When  the  chiefs  were  all  come,  they  met  at  the  altar  of 


224  NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES      [XVILi- 

Poseidon,  and  distributed  the  ballots  wherewith  they  were 
to  give  their  votes  for  the  first  and  for  the  second  in  merit. 
Then  each  man  gave  himself  the  first  vote,  since  each  con- 
sidered that  he  was  himself  the  worthiest ;  but  the  second 
votes  were  given  chiefly  to  Themistocles.  In  this  way, 
while  the  others  received  but  one  vote  apiece,  Themistocles 
had  for  the  second  prize  a  large  majority  of  the  suffrages. 
Envy,  however,  hindered  the  chiefs  from  coming  to  a  deci- 
sion, and  they  all  sailed  away  to  their  homes  without  making 
any  award.  Nevertheless,  Themistocles  was  regarded  every- 
where as  by  far  the  wisest  man  of  all  the  Greeks ;  and  the 
whole  country  rang  with  his  fame  "  (Herod.,  viii.  123,  124). 

XVII.  2.  "  As  the  chiefs  who  fought  at  Salamis,  notwith- 
standing that  he  was  really  entitled  to  the  prize,  had  with- 
held his  honor  from  him,  he  went  without  delay  to  Lacedae- 
mon,  in  the  hope  that  he  would  be  honored  there.  And  the 
Lacedaemonians  received  him  handsomely,  and  paid  him 
great  respect.  The  prize  of  valor,  indeed,  which  was  a  crown 
of  olive,  they  gave  to  Eurybiades;  but  Themistocles  was 
given  a  crown  of  olive  too,  as  the  prize  of  wisdom  and  clever- 
ness. He  was  likewise  presented  with  the  most  beautiful 
chariot  that  could  be  found  in  Sparta;  and  after  receiving 
abundant  praises,  was,  upon  his  departure,  escorted  as  far  as 
the  borders  of  Tegea,  by  the  three  hundred  picked  Spartans 
who  are  called  the  '  Knights.'  Never  was  it  known,  either 
before  or  since,  that  the  Spartans  escorted  a  man  out  of  their 
city  "  (Herod.,  viii  124). 

Plutarch  has  confused  the  prize  of  valor  at  Salamis  with 
that  for  the  most  merit  during  the  whole  war,  and  the  entire 
chapter,  thus  far,  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  free  and 
easy  use  he  makes  of  so  dominant  an  authority  as  Herodotus. 
But  in  some  deviations  from  Herodotus  he  is  purposely  cor- 
recting that  historian's  malicious  interpretation  of  the  course 
of  Themistocles.  It  was  on  invitation  of  the  Spartans  that 
Themistocles  visited  their  city,  and  not  of  his  own  motion, 
in  a  quest  for  honors.  This  is  the  corrective  view  of  Thu- 
cydides  also,  when  he  puts  these  words  into  the  mouth  of  an 


-XVII.  3]     NOTES   ON  THE   THEMIS TOCLES  225 

Athenian  embassy  at  Sparta,  which  is  recounting  the  claims 
of  Athens  on  Spartan  gratitude  for  services  rendered  at 
Salamis  (i.  74,  1)  :  "  The  event  proved  undeniably  that  the 
fate  of  Hellas  depended  on  her  navy.  And  the  three  chief 
elements  of  success  were  contributed  by  us;  namely,  the 
greatest  number  of  ships,  the  ablest  general,  the  most  devoted 
patriotism.  The  ships  in  all  numbered  four  hundred,  and  of 
these,  our  own  contingent  amounted  to  nearly  two  thirds. 
To  the  influence  of  Themistocles  our  general  it  was  chiefly 
due  that  we  fought  in  the  strait,  which  was  confessedly  our 
salvation ;  and  for  this  service  you  yourselves  honored  him 
above  any  stranger  who  ever  visited  you." 

This  was  also  the  view  of  Ephorus  (in  Diodorus,  xi.  27, 
3)  :  "  Since  the  Athenians  were  displeased  at  their  unmerited 
defeat "  (by  the  .ZEginetans,  in  the  award  of  the  prize  of 
valor  at  Salamis),  "  the  Lacedaemonians,  fearful  lest  Themis- 
tocles be  vexed  at  what  had  happened,  and  devise  great  evil 
for  them  and  the  Hellenes,  honored  him  with  twice  as  many 
gifts  as  those  received  who  had  taken  the  prize." 

XVII.  3.  This  story,  a  natural  accretion  to  tradition,  like 
that  of  v.  3,  is  not  in  Herodotus.  Pausanias,  writing  towards 
the  close  of  the  century  at  the  opening  of  which  Plutarch 
was  busy  with  his  Lives,  tells  (viii.  50,  3)  how  Philopoemen 
was  honored  at  the  Nemean  games,  during  the  singing  of  a 
famous  minstrel.  "  Scarcely  had  he  struck  up  the  song  — 

'  The  glorious  crown  of  freedom  who  giveth  to  Greece  — ' 

when  all  the  people  turned  and  looked  at  Philopoemen,  and 
with  clapping  of  hands  signified  that  the  song  referred  to 
him.  I  have  heard  that  much  the  same  thing  happened  to 
Themistocles  at  Olympia ;  the  audience  stood  up  to  do  him 
honor."  And  ^Elian,  writing  a  few  years  later  than  Pau- 
sanias, gives  the  anecdote  in  this  form  (  Varia  Hist.  xiii.  43) : 
"  When  Themistocles  was  asked  what  had  given  him  the 
greatest  pleasure  of  his  life,  he  answered,  '  When  the  audi- 
ence at  Olympia  turned  about  to  look  at  me  as  I  entered 
the  stadium.' "  Compare  the  equally  apocryphal  and  charm- 

15 


226  NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES     [XVIL3- 

ing  story  of  Aristides  and  the  audience  who  heard  the  "  Seven 
against  Thebes  "  of  ^Eschylus  {Aristides,  iii.  3.) 

XVIII.  This  chapter,  like  the  fifth,  is  a  miscellaneous  col- 
lection of  anecdotes,  nine  in  all,  intended  to  illustrate  charac- 
teristics of  Themistocles.  Only  one  of  these  anecdotes,  the 
fifth,  can  be  traced  to  a  source  earlier  than  Plutarch.  This 
is  by  far  the  best  one,  and  is  told  by  Herodotus  (viii.  125), 
in  slightly  different  form,  at  just  the  point  where  Plutarch 
uses  it  (with  eight  others),  namely,  after  the  mention  of  the 
extraordinary  honors  paid  to  Themistocles  on  account  of 
Salamis.  The  community  of  sequence  is  a  strong  argument 
in  favor  of  the  independent  use  of  Herodotus  by  Plutarch  in 
this  Life.  He  takes  the  story  of  Herodotus,  in  its  later  and 
more  perfect  rhetorical  form,  uses  it  as  a  nucleus  for  eight 
other  stories,  and  inserts  the  whole  group  at  just  the  point  in 
the  narration  where  Herodotus  resorts  to  anecdote. 

XVIII.  1.  Admiral:  Plutarch  is  careless  in  his  use  of 
technical  terms.  The  office  was  that  of  general  with  full 
powers,  as  in  vii.  1. 

The  first  story,  if  true,  would  testify  to  a  ridiculous  vanity. 
It  is  told  only  here. 

Cast  up  along  the  sea :  in  telling  this  second  story,  Plu- 
tarch has  the  battle  of  Salamis  distinctly  in  mind,  as  is 
natural  from  the  immediate  context.  The  story  is  here 
made  to  illustrate  haughty  pride ;  but  in  his  "  Political  Pre- 
cepts," a  treatise  only  a  little,  if  any,  earlier  than  the  Themis- 
tocles, it  does  very  different  duty,  illustrating  Themistocles' 
thoughtfulness  for  his  friends.  "There  are  also  in  the 
administration  of  the  state  methods,  not  dishonorable,  of 
assisting  our  poorer  friends  in  the  making  of  their  fortune. 
Thus  did  Themistocles,  who,  seeing  after  the  battle  one  of 
those  which  lay  dead  adorned  with  collars  of  gold  and  arm- 
lets, did  himself  pass  by  him ;  but  turning  back  to  a  friend 
of  his,  said :  '  Take  thou  these  spoils,  for  thou  art  not  become 
a  Themistocles.'  Affairs  themselves  often  afford  a  statesman 
such  opportunities  of  benefiting  his  friends."  (Prcecepta  ger. 
reip.,  83  =  Morals  p.  808  F).  Still  a  different  form  and 


-XVIII.  3]     NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  227 

purpose  has  the  story  as  told  by  JSlian  ( Varia  Hist.,  xiii. 
40) :  "  Themistocles,  happening  upon  a  collar  of  Persian 
gold  lying  on  the  ground,  said  to  his  servant :  '  Pick  up 
this  treasure-trove,'  pointing  to  the  collar,  '  thou  art  not 
Themistocles,  I  trow  ! '  " 

Decked  with  golden  bracelets  and  collars :  this  "  bar- 
baric splendor  "  made  a  great  impression  on  the  Greek  fancy. 
Familiar  to  countless  school-boys,  and  lingering  in  the 
memory  of  many  from  the  time  of  their  school  days,  is  the 
lively  description  of  Xenophon  in  his  Anabasis  (i.  5,  8). 
The  baggage-waggons  of  Cyrus  were  hindered  by  narrow 
and  muddy  roads,  and  the  barbarian  detachment  ordered  to 
extricate  them  seemed  to  the  impatient  prince  to  work  too 
slowly.  "  As  if  in  a  passion  he  ordered  the  noblest  Persians 
in  his  train  to  help  hasten  on  the  waggons.  Then  was  seen 
a  fine  specimen  of  their  famous  discipline ;  they  snatched  off 
their  long  purple  robes  on  the  spot,  and  dashed,  as  one  would 
run  a  race,  right  down  a  steep  hill,  wearing  those  costly 
tunics  of  theirs,  and  those  embroidered  trousers,  —  some  too 
with  collars  round  their  necks  and  bracelets  round  their 
arms,  —  and  straightway,  with  all  these  on,  they  leaped  into 
the  mud,  and  sooner  than  one  had  thought  it  possible, 
they  brought  the  waggons  out  high  and  dry." 

XVIII.  2.  Antiphates:  this  story  of  the  faded  beauty 
and  the  convalescent  lover  is  found  only  here. 

Treated  him  like  a  plane-tree :  in  the  Morals,  p.  541  E 
(De  se  ipsum  laud.,  vi.),  Plutarch  has  Themistocles  say  to 
the  Athenians :  "  Upon  every  storm  you  fly  to  my  branches 
for  shelter;  yet  when  it  is  fair,  you  pluck  my  leaves  as 
you  pass  by."  In  ^Elian  (Varia  Hist.,  ix.  18),  the  fine 
metaphor  is  expanded  exhaustively  and  tiresomely. 

XVIII.  3.  The  Seriphian :  made  famous  by  this  anecdote, 
like  the  Eretrian  in  XL  4.  Seriphos  was  one  of  the  smallest 
and  most  insignificant  of  the  Cyclades  group  of  islands,  and 
the  point  of  the  story  lies  in  this  insignificance.  As  the 
story  was  originally  told,  another  islet  had  this  pre-eminence 
in  insignificance,  viz.  Belbina,  just  off  the  promontory  of 


228         NOTES  ON  THE    THEMIS TOCLES     [XVIII.3- 

Sunium.  "  On  the  return  of  Themistocles  to  Athens,  Timo- 
demus  of  Aphidnse,  who  was  one  of  his  enemies,  but  other- 
wise a  man  of  no  repute,  became  so  maddened  with  envy 
that  he  openly  railed  against  him,  and  reproaching  him  with 
his  journey  to  Sparta,  said, '  'twas  not  his  own  merit  that  had 
won  him  honor  from  the  men  of  Lacedsemon,  but  the  fame 
of  Athens,  his  country.'  Then  Themistocles,  seeing  that 
Timodemus  repeated  this  phrase  unceasingly,  replied, '  Thus 
stands  the  case,  my  friend ;  I  had  never  got  this  honor  from 
the  Spartans  had  I  been  a  Belbinite,  nor  thou,  hadst  thou 
been  an  Athenian'  "  (Herod.,  viii.  125). 

A  few  years  only  after  Herodotus  thus  told  the  story,  Seri- 
phos  was  famous  for  insignificance,  as  is  clear  from  a  joke  in 
the  Acharnians  of  Aristophanes  (425  B.  c.).  In  a  comic  plea 
defending  the  Spartans  for  going  to  war  with  Athens  on 
behalf  of  their  Megarian  allies,  Dicaeopolis  says  (540  ff.) : 
" '  It  was  n't  right,'  some  one  will  say ;  but  tell  me,  then,  what 
was  right !  Do  you  suppose  that  if  a  Lacedaemonian  customs 
cruiser  had  confiscated  as  contraband  of  war  some  Seriphian's 
little  puppy-dog,  you  would  have  sat  quietly  at  home  ? " 
Sparta  resented  Athens'  treatment  of  Megara,  as  Athens 
would  have  resented  Sparta's  slightest  mistreatment  of 
one  of  the  least  of  her  allies.  Gradually  Seriphos  dis- 
placed Belbina  in  the  story,  and,  as  orators  and  rhetoricians 
used  it,  more  point  was  given  it  by  having  the  interlocutor 
of  Themistocles  a  native  of  the  islet  selected  for  its  utter 
insignificance.  In  this  form  Plato  gives  the  story  (Republic, 
p.  329  E) :  "I  might  answer  them "  (the  aged  Cephalus  is 
the  speaker)  "  as  Themistocles  answered  the  Seriphian  who 
was  abusing  him  and  saying  that  he  was  famous  not  for  his 
own  merits  but  because  he  was  an  Athenian :  '  If  you  had 
been  an  Athenian  and  I  a  Seriphian,  neither  of  us  would 
have  been  famous.' "  From  Plato,  Cicero  takes  the  story  (De 
senectute,  8) :  "  Nee  hercule,"  inquit,  "  si  ego  Seriphius  essem, 
nee  tu,  si  Atheniensis,  clarus  unquam  fuisses." 

The  Festival-Day  and  the  Day  After:  this  fable  is  found 
only  in  Plutarch ;  here,  and  Qucestiones  Romance,  xxv. 


-XVIII.  4]      NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES        229 

(Morals,  p.  270  B) ;  De  fortuna  Romanorum,  viii.  (Morals, 
p.  320  F). 

XVIII.  4.  The  boy  was  the  most  powerful  of  all  the 
Hellenes :  the  claim  is  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  boy  himself 
in  Plutarch's  tract  De  liberis  educandis,  ii.  (Morals,  p.  1  C), 
in  illustration  of  an  inborn  arrogance  sometimes  found  in 
sons  of  famous  sires.  In  his  Oato  Major,  viii.,  Plutarch  gives 
the  story  quite  another  form.  "  Discoursing  of  the  power  of 
women :  '  Men,'  said  Cato,  '  usually  command  women ;  but 
we  Romans  command  all  men,  and  the  women  command  us.' 
But  this  indeed  is  borrowed  from  the  sayings  of  Thernistocles, 
who,  when  his  son  was  making  many  demands  of  him  by 
means  of  his  mother,  said,  '  0  woman,  the  Athenians  com- 
mand the  Greeks ;  I  command  the  Athenians ;  but  you  com- 
mand me,  and  your  son  commands  you ;  so  let  him  use  his 
authority  sparingly,  since,  foolish  as  he  is,  he  is  the  most 
powerful  of  the  Hellenes.'"  Thus  again  a  good  story  is 
made  to  serve  very  different  purposes. 

This-  son  must  have  been  the  Cleophantus  referred  to  in  c. 
xxxii.  1. 

It  had  an  excellent  neighbor:  this  story  Plutarch  uses 
only  here,  and  it  occurs  again  only  in  Stobseus  (compiling 
about  500  A.D.). 

Suitors  for  his  daughter's  hand:  among  the  various  ex- 
planations of  the  way  in  which  Cimon  got  the  money  to  pay 
the  fine  of  his  father  Miltiades,  there  was  one  which  claimed 
for  him  a  wealthy  marriage,  in  consequence  of  advice  given 
a  wealthy  man  by  Themistocles,  to  seek  for  his  daughter  a 
man  without  money  rather  than  money  without  a  man 
(Diodorus,  Frag.  31).  As  Cicero  tells  the  story,  too,  The- 
mistocles gives  the  good  advice  to  one  who  consults  him 
(De  officiis,  ii.  71):  "'  Ego  vero,'  inquit,  'malo  virum  qui  pecunia 
egeat,  quam  pecuniam  quae  viro.' "  So  the  story  stands  also 
in  Valerius  Maximus  (a  compiler  of  the  first  century  A.  D.), 
vii.  2, 9.  Ifis  clear  that  Plutarch  has  given  it  a  more  personal 
flavor  by  making  Themistocles  act  out  the  principle,  instead 
of  recommending  it  to  another. 


230          NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES      [XIX.  i- 

XIX.  1.  Straightway:  in  the  fall  of  479  B.  c.,  for 
Plutarch  passes  over  here  the  events  of  the  year  following 
the  battle  of  Salamis.  These  culminated  in  the  victory  of 
Platsea,  and  the  rivals  of  Themistocles,  —  Aristides  and  Xan- 
thippus,  —  had  the  command  of  the  Athenian  laud  and  sea 
forces.  Themistocles  and  his  plans  for  exclusively  naval 
operations  were  set  aside  in  order  to  secure  the  co-operation 
of  Sparta  in  a  defence  of  Attica  against  Mardonius.  This 
gap  in  Plutarch's  story  is  supplied  by  chapters  x.-xxi.  of 
the  Aristides. 

As  Theopompus  relates:  the  version  of  this  historian 
(see  the  Introduction,  p.  38)  was  sure  to  be  inimical  to 
Athens  and  Themistocles.  Andocides,  in  his  oration  "On 
the  Peace  with  Lacedsemon  "  (§  38),  which  was  delivered  in 
393  B.  c.,  speaks  of  the  Athenians  as  having  bought  immunity 
from  punishment  for  their  deceit.  This  may  have  suggested 
the  charge  of  bribery  to  Ephorus.  But  charges  of  venality 
have  always  been  stock  charges. 

As  the  majority  say :  including  and  starting  with  Thu- 
cydides,  whose  inimitable  story  of  the  "  stratagem  "  (i.  89-92) 
became  the  standard  version.  Plutarch  abridges,  but  other- 
wise reproduces  fairly  well  the  account  of  Thucydides.  The 
most  important  omissions  due  to  his  condensation  are  the 
following  items :  (1)  the  Spartan  embassy  to  Athens  to  pro- 
test in  the  name  of  the  Peloponnesian  alliance  against  the 
rebuilding  of  the  walls  of  Athens,  to  which  the  Athenians, 
by  advice  of  Themistocles,  reply  that  they  will  send  an 
embassy  to  Sparta  to  discuss  the  whole  matter ;  (2)  the  craft 
of  Themistocles  in  proposing  that  he  himself  be  sent  on  as 
one  member  of  this  embassy,  but  that  his  two  colleagues  on 
the  embassy,  Aristides  and  Habronichus  (see  the  note  on 
ix.  1),  delay  to  join  him  until  the  walls  of  Athens  could  be 
carried,  by  the  efforts  of  the  whole  population,  to  a  defensible 
height ;  (3)  the  arrival  at  Sparta  of  the  delayed  colleagues  of 
Themistocles,  for  whom,  as  well  as  for  Themistocles,  the 
prominent  Spartans  who  had  been  sent  on  to  find  out  the 
truth  about  the  building  of  the  walls  were  made  to  serve 


-XIX.  2]      NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  231 

as  hostages;  (4)  the  fact  that  the  Spartan  friendship  for 
Themistocles  furthered  his  scheme,  and,  at  first,  softened 
the  anger  natural  at  its  success. 

Polyarchus :  Thucydides  speaks  indefinitely  of  "  travellers 
from  Athens "  as  bringers  of  the  accusations,  and  of  the 
hostility  of  "  the  allies  "  of  Sparta  to  the  rebuilding  projects 
of  Athens.  Of  course  the  ^Eginetans  were  among  the  bitter- 
est foes  of  Athens  (see  the  note  on  iv.  1),  and  an  individual 
^Eginetan  name  may  have  been  suggested  to  Plutarch  by  the 
story  of  Polycritus  the  ^Eginetan  and  his  taunting  Themisto- 
cles during  the  battle  of  Salamis  (Herod.,  viii.  92).  Later 
inventive  tradition  does  not  stand  at  names. 

XIX.  2.  Equipped  the  Piraeus :  i.  e.  resumed  the  for- 
tification of  the  entire  peninsula.  This  peninsula  afforded 
three  natural  harbors,  Munychia,  Zea  and  Piraeus  (in  the 
narrower  sense).  These  fortifications  Themistocles  had 
begun  in  the  year  of  his  archonship  (483-2).  "  By  his  ad- 
vice, they  built  the  wall  of  such  a  width  that  two  waggons 
carrying  the  stones  could  meet  and  pass  on  the  top ;  this 
width  may  still  be  traced  at  the  Piraeus;  inside  there  was 
no  rubble  or  mortar,  but  the  whole  wall  was  made  up  of 
large  stones  hewn  square,  which  were  clamped  on  the  outer 
face  with  iron  and  lead  "  (Thucyd.,  i.  93,  3-5). 

Counteracting  the  policies  of  the  ancient  kings :  the  rest 
of  the  paragraph  seems  to  be  original  with  Plutarch,  and  is 
his  naive  way  of  putting  the  undoubted  truth  that  Themis- 
tocles converted  Athens  from  an  agricultural  into  a  maritime 
state.  The  old  country-loving  habits  of  the  people  of  Attica 
are  touchingly  described  by  Thucydides  (ii.  14  1). 

As  it  is  said :  by  rationalistic  interpreters  of  the  myth. 
This  myth  was  current  at  Athens  in  the  time  of  Herodotus 
(viii.  55),  and  the  strife  between  Athena  and  Poseidon  for 
the  possession  of  Attica  was  represented  on  Athenian  coins, 
and  above  all  in  the  west  pediment  of  the  Parthenon.  The 
general  outlines  of  the  myth  were  as  follows.  Poseidon 
visited  Attica,  and  as  a  token  that  he  had  taken  possession  of 
it,  caused  a  small  salt  spring  to  flow  on  the  Athenian  acropo- 


232  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLE8      [XIX.  2- 

lis.  Athena  also  visited  the  land,  and  as  token  of  her  as- 
sumption of  ownership,  planted  an  olive  tree  on  the  same 
acropolis,  and  near  Poseidon's  spring.  She  took  the  pre- 
caution to  have  Cecrops,  the  king  of  the  land,  witness  her 
act  of  assumption.  A  dispute  arising  between  the  two 
deities  for  the  possession  of  the  land,  the  gods  (or,  as  some 
said,  the  inhabitants  of  Attica)  decided  in  favor  of  the  claim 
of  Athena,  on  the  witness  of  Cecrops.  Both  gods  appealed 
to  their  "  tokens  "  in  support  of  their  claims.  See  Harrison 
and  Verrall,  Mythology  and  Monuments  of  Athens,  pp.  xxv.  f., 
440  f. ;  Frazer's  Pausanias,  voL  ii,  p.  308  ff.  The  point 
which  the  "  ancient  Athenian  kings  "  wished  the  people  of 
Attica  to  see  in  the  myth  was  that  the  agricultural  "  token  " 
carried  the  day  over  that  of  the  god  of  the  sea  and  of  ships. 

XIX.  3.  As  Aristophanes  says :  the  Sausage-seller,  re- 
counting the  good  deeds  of  Themistocles,  with  whom  his 
adversary  (Cleon)  has  boldly  compared  himself,  says :  "  He 
made  our  city's  cup  run  over,  though  he  found  it  very  full, 
and,  as  she  sat  a-breakfasting,  kneaded  Piraeus  up  as  cake 
for  her  "  (Knights,  814  f.).  Plutarch  would  correct  the  comic 
poet's  expression  in  so  far  as  it  implies  that  the  Piraeus 
was  an  appendage  to  the  upper  city.  The  reverse  was  the 
case,  —  or  would  have  been,  had  Themistocles  been  allowed 
to  have  his  way.  "  The  Piraeus  appeared  to  him  to  be  of 
more  real  consequence  than  the  upper  city.  He  was  fond  of 
telling  the  Athenians  that  if  they  were  hard  pressed  they 
should  go  down  to  the  Piraeus  and  fight  the  world  at  sea" 
(Tliucyd.,  i.  93,7). 

Into  the  hands  of  skippers,  etc. :  Plutarch  is  thinking 
again  of  his  Plato,  the  passages  cited  above  in  the  note  on 
iv.  3. 

The  bema  in  Pnyx :  the  stone  rostrum  from  which  the 
speakers  addressed  the  assembly  on  the  slopes  of  the  Pnyx- 
hill,  just  southwest  of  the  Acropolis.  Some  such  change  in 
the  position  of  the  bema  may  have  been  made  as  is  here 
indicated,  but  the  reason  given  for  the  change  is  purely 
fanciful. 


-XX.  2]      NOTES    ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  233 

The  thirty  tyrants :  the  oligarchs  to  whom  Lysander  the 
Spartan  entrusted  the  government  of  captured  Athens  in  404 
B.C.  Their  power  lasted  only  four  months.  They  un- 
doubtedly had  the  sentiments  attributed  to  them  here,  but 
hardly  the  folly. 

XX.  1.  This  famous  story  of  the  incendiary  stratagem  of 
Themistocles,  told  also  in  the  Aristides,  xxii.,  and  in  Cicero, 
De  officiis,  iii.  11,  49  (whence  it  is  repeated  in  Valerius 
Maximus,  vi.  5,  7),  is  probably  an  invention  of  the  rhetorical 
schools  to  illustrate  the  contrast  between  justice  and  ex- 
pediency, two  qualities  of  which  Aristides  and  Themistocles 
came  to  be  personal  types.  As  Themistocles  defeated  the 
design  of  Sparta  to  prevent  the  fortification  of  Athens  by  his 
"  stratagem "  of  the  embassy,  so,  by  a  similar  stratagem, 
Ephorus  (Diodorus,  xi.  42,  43)  has  him  secure  the  fortifica- 
tion of  the  Piraeus,  the  plan  for  which  he  first  imparts,  with 
the  elaborate  secrecy  of  the  present  story,  to  two  men  selected 
by  the  people  to  receive  it.  In  the  entirely  trustworthy 
narrative  of  Thucydides  (see  the  notes  on  xix.  2)  there  is  no 
hint  of  secrecy  or  stratagem. 

The  original  form  of  the  present  story  was  perhaps  as 
follows :  "  Themistocles  plans  to  burn  the  Spartan  and  Pelo- 
ponnesian  fleet  at  its  winter  station,  in  order  to  obtain  the 
naval  leadership  of  the  Hellenes."  There  was  no  opportunity 
for  such  a  stroke  in  the  winter  of  479-8  or  478-7,  where  the 
story,  as  told  by  Plutarch,  belongs  chronologically ;  though 
in  the  winter  of  476/5  such  a  fleet  did  whiter  at  Pagasae,  the 
great  Thessalian  port  (Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte,  iii.  pp. 
85  f.),  and  in  455  an  Athenian  fleet  under  Tolmides  "  sailed 
round  Peloponnesus  and  burnt  the  Lacedaemonian  dock- 
yard" at  Gythium  (Tliucyd.,\.  108,  5).  The  former  event 
gives  desired  detail  to  the  story  of  Plutarch,  the  latter  to 
that  of  Cicero.  Neither  story  is  historically  possible,  or 
consistent  in  its  detail. 

XX.  2.  The  Amphictyonic  conventions:  the  Delphic 
sacred  league  is  meant.  This  included  twelve  tribes,  namely : 
the  Thessalians,  Perrhaebians,  Magnesians,  Achaeans  (of 


234  NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES       [XX.  2- 

Phthia),  Dolopians,  Malians,  ^Enianians,  Locrians,  Phocians, 
Boeotians,  Dorians  (both  of  Doris  and  the  Peloponnesus), 
and  lonians  (the  Athenians  and  Euboeans).  The  conven- 
tion was  composed  of  delegates  and  representatives  from 
each  of  these  tribes,  and  "  met  half-yearly,  alternately  at 
Delphi  and  Thermopylae ;  originally  and  chiefly  for  com- 
mon religious  purposes,  but  indirectly  and  occasionally 
embracing  political  and  social  objects  along  with  them."  Of 
these  twelve  tribes,  all  but  the  Thespians  and  Plataeans 
among  the  Boeotians,  the  Peloponnesian  Dorians,  and  the 
lonians,  had  put  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  Medes.  The 
Argives,  who  were  represented  in  the  Amphictyonic  assembly 
by  the  Spartans,  were  neutral 

Thirty-one  cities :  this  was  exactly  the  number  of  the 
names  of  those  who  had  fought  against  the  Medes,  as  they 
were  inscribed  on  the  bronze  coils  of  the  serpents  supporting 
the  golden  tripod  dedicated  by  the  victors  at  Delphi  "  When 
all  the  booty  had  been  brought  together,  a  tenth  of  the  whole 
was  set  apart  for  the  Delphian  god ;  and  hence  was  made 
the  golden  tripod,  which  stands  on  the  bronze  serpent  with 
the  three  heads,  quite  close  to  the  altar"  (Herod.,  ix.  81, 
1).  "The  bronze  serpent  on  which  the  tripod  rested  is  still 
to  be  seen  in  the  Atmeidan,  the  ancient  hippodrome,  at  Con- 
stantinople, whither  it  was  transferred  by  Constantino.  The 
monument  consists  really,  not  of  a  single  bronze  serpent,  but 
of  three  such  serpents  so  skilfully  intertwined  that  their 
bodies  appear  as  a  single  spiral  column  "  (Frazer,  Pausanias, 
commentary  on  x.  13,  9,  voL  v.,  pp.  299-307,  to  which  the 
reader  is  referred  for  a  full  description  of  this  most  interesting 
monument). 

Plutarch  is  our  sole  authority  for  this  Amphictyonic  policy 
of  Themistocles,  but  it  is  not  in  itself  improbable.  We  get 
a  glimpse  of  action  on  the  events  of  the  Persian  war  by  the 
Delphic  Amphictyony  in  Herodotus  (vii.  213). 

Obnoxious  to  the  Lacedaemonians :  no  other  reason  for 
this  is  needed  than  the  success  of  Themistocles  in  thwarting 
the  Spartan  scheme  to  prevent  the  fortification  of  Athens. 


-XXI.  2]      NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES  235 

To  win  this  success,  Themistocles  deliberately  sacrificed  an 
unexampled  popularity  at  Sparta,  and  left  the  field  free  for 
the  man  who  succeeded  him  not  only  in  Spartan,  but  in 
Athenian  favor.  This  man  "  was  taken  up  with  favor  by  the 
Lacedaemonians  as  soon  as  they  became  hostile  to  Themis- 
tocles, and  therefore  wished  Cimon,  young  as  he  was,  to 
have  the  more  weight  and  power  in  Athens"  (Plutarch, 
Cimon,  XVL  2). 

XXI.  1.  To  the  allies :  i.  e.  the  island-states  which  after- 
wards became  the  allies  of  Athens.  Most  of  them  had 
joined  the  Persians,  and  the  victorious  Greeks  tried  to  make 
them  pay  dearly  for  their  defection.  They  laid  siege  to 
Andros,  when  it  refused  to  pay  the  sum  demanded,  without 
success ;  but  other  islands,  frightened  by  the  treatment  of 
Andros,  complied  with  the  demands  made  upon  them.  All 
this  was  procedure  of  the  allied  Greeks,  and  perfectly  proper ; 
but  later  tradition  wrested  these  measures,  in  which  Themis- 
tocles, as  admiral  of  the  Athenian  fleet,  was  prominent,  into 
charges  of  attempted  blackmail  for  his  own  personal  uses. 
This  is  the  representation  of  Herodotus,  who  shows  us 
Athenian  feeling  when  he  wrote  (viiL  111,  112):  "For 
Themistocles  had  required  the  Andrians  to  pay  down  a  sum 
of  money ;  and  they  had  refused,  being  the  first  of  all  the 
islanders  who  did  so.  To  his  declaration  that  the  money 
must  needs  be  paid,  as  the  Athenians  had  brought  with 
them  two  mighty  gods,  Persuasion  and  Necessity,  they  made 
reply  that  Athens  might  well  be  a  great  and  glorious 
city,  since  she  was  blest  with  such  excellent  gods ;  but 
Andros  was  wretchedly  poor,  stinted  for  land,  and  cursed 
with  two  unprofitable  gods,  who  always  dwelt  with  them, 
and  would  never  quit  the  island,  —  to  wit,  Poverty  and 
Helplessness.  These  were  the  gods  of  the  Andrians,  and 
therefore  they  would  not  pay  the  money.  For  the  power  of 
Athens  could  not  possibly  be  stronger  than  the  Andrians' 
inability." 

XXI.  2.  Timocreon  of  Rhodes:  see  the  Introduction, 
pp.  30  f. 


236  NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES      [XXL  2- 

The  restoration  of  exiles :  the  victories  of  the  Greeks 
had  been  very  naturally  followed  by  revolutions  in  the 
islands  favoring  the  Persian  cause,  and  the  banishment  of 
the  aristocratic  sympathizers  with  Persia. 

Pausanias:  The  Spartan  victor  of  Plataea;  Xanthippus 
and  Leutichidas  were  the  victors  of  Mycale,  Athenian  and 
Spartan  respectively. 

Leto  loathes  Themistocles :  Leto  was  mother  of  Apollo, 
whose  oracle  was  the  foe  of  falsehood. 

lalysos :  one  of  the  three  chief  cities  of  Rhodes. 

At  the  Isthmus :  i.  e.  at  the  Isthmian  games,  which  were 
held  at  Corinth  every  two  years  (the  first  and  third  of  each 
Olympiad),  in  spring  and  summer  alternately.  The  charge 
of  the  malicious  poet  is  that  Themistocles  played  the 
parsimonious  host  on  a  grand  occasion.  See  v.  1-3  and 
notes. 

XXI.  3.   The  latter's  own  exile  and  condemnation :  as 
narrated  in  the  following  chapter. 

Brushless:  i.e.  I  am  not  the  only  fox  that  has  lost  its 
tail,  escaping  from  the  trap  of  prosecution. 

XXII.  1.   Why  are  ye  vexed,  etc.:  this  mot   of  The- 
mistocles is  mentioned  only  by  Plutarch,  —  here,  and  Morals, 
p.  541  E  (just  before  the  mot  cited  in  the  note  on  xviii.  2) ; 
p.  812  B. 

Melite:  a  city-deme,  or  ward  (see  the  note  on  L  1),  lying 
to  the  west  of  the  Acropolis.  It  was  an  extended,  elevated, 
and  fashionable  quarter  of  the  city,  where  Callias  also,  the 
" Pit-wealthy"  (  Aristides,  v.  4),  and,  later,  Phocion  lived. 

XXII.  2.  A  small  portrait  statue:  there  is  no  good 
reason  to  believe  that  any  authentic  likeness  of  Themistocles 
has  come  down  to  us.  The  bust  in  the  Vatican  representing 
a  typical  Greek  warrior,  probably  of  the  fourth  century,  B.  c., 
given  as  frontispiece  of  this  volume,  was  arbitrarily  named 
"  Themistocles "  by  Visconti  in  his  Iconographie  Grlcque 
(1811),  L  p.  137. 

Ostracism:  see  the  note  on  v.  5,  and  cf.  Aristides,  vii. 
Again,  as  always,  Plutarch  fails  to  grasp  the  political  signifi- 


-XXIII.  1]     NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES         237 

cance  of  the  "  ostracism."  It  was  a  far-sighted  provision  of 
Cleisthenes  to  prevent  any  influential  aristocrat  like  Pisistra- 
tus  from  making  an  alliance  with  either  one  of  two  evenly 
matched  political  parties,  and  overthrowing  the  democratic 
forms  of  government.  Themistocles  was  ostracized  precisely 
as  Aristides  was  ostracized,  not  on  charges  of  treason,  for  these 
were  made  subsequently,  but  because  one  party,  —  in  this  case 
the  aristocratic  party,  led  by  Aristides  and  Cimon,  and  sup- 
ported by  Spartan  influence,  —  became  too  strong  for  the  rival 
party,  —  in  this  case  the  democratic  or  popular  party  headed 
by  Themistocles,  —  and  wanted  a  freer  hand  in  the  manage- 
ment of  affairs.  The  date  of  Themistocles'  ostracism  is  not 
definitely  known.  It  must  have  been  between  476,  the  date 
of  his  dramatic  victory  (see  the  note  on  v.  3),  and  471,  the 
well  attested  year  of  his  flight,  regarding  as  unhistorical  the 
story  in  Aristotle's  Constitution  of  Athens  (c.  xxv.  3,  4) 
of  Themistocles'  participation  in  the  overthrow  of  the 
Areiopagus  at  Athens  in  462. 

XXIII.  1.  Sojourning  at  Argos :  this  city  had  remained 
neutral  during  the  invasion  of  Xerxes,  out  of  hatred  toward 
Sparta.  Having  now  himself  incurred  the  hatred  of  Sparta, 
Themistocles  naturally  sought  residence  there.  The  length 
of  this  residence  is  uncertain,  within  the  limits  476-1  (see 
the  preceding  note). 

Ground  for  proceeding  against  him  :  Thucydides,  in  the 
memorable  digression  already  cited  several  times  (L  128-138), 
after  narrating  the  death  of  Pausanias,  says  (135)  :  "  Now 
the  evidence  which  proved  that  Pausanias  was  in  league 
with  Persia  implicated  Themistocles;  and  the  Lacedaemon- 
ians sent  ambassadors  to  the  Athenians  charging  him  like- 
wise with  treason,  and  demanding  that  he  should  receive 
the  same  punishment.  The  Athenians  agreed,  but  having 
been  ostracized  he  was  living  at  the  time  in  Argos,  whence 
he  used  to  visit  other  parts  of  the  Peloponnese.  The  Lacedae- 
monians were  very  ready  to  join  in  the  pursuit ;  so  they  and 
the  Athenians  sent  officers,  who  were  told  to  arrest  him 
wherever  they  should  find  him." 


238         NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES     [XXIH  i- 

Leobotes  the  son  of  Alcmeon :  this  definite  information 
probably  comes  through  Crateras  (see  the  Introduction, 
p.  40),  and  is  trustworthy.  In  his  Aristides,  c.  xxv.,  Plu- 
tarch's memory  plays  him  false,  and  he  speaks  of  the  author 
of  the  indictment  as  Alcmeon. 

XXIII.  2.  His  errand  scheme  of  treachery:  Plutarch 
assumes  that  the  reader  is  familiar  with  the  details.  They 
are  given  in  full  by  Thucydides  (i.  128-130).  According 
to  this  account,  Pausanias  planned  to  connect  himself  by 
marriage  with  the  King  of  Persia,  and  to  become  a  sort  of 
Satrap  of  all  the  Hellenes. 

A  letter  he  had  received  from  the  King :  this  is  given  in 
full  in  Thucydides  (c.  129).  If  it  is  a  genuine  document, 
and  not  literary  embellishment,  we  are  to  suppose  that  it, 
with  the  documents  "  implicating  "  Themistocles  (§  3),  came 
into  the  hands  of  the  Spartan  authorities  after  the  death  of 
Pausanias.  Thucydides  does  not  make  clear  just  how  these 
documents  "  implicated  "  Themistocles  ;  but  his  general  atti- 
tude toward  the  question  is  not  unfavorable  to  the  interpre- 
tation here  given  by  Plutarch,  — Themistocles  was  aware,  but 
gave  no  information  of  the  treasonable  scheme  of  Pausanias. 

XXIII.  3.  Defended  himself  in  writing :  we  have  no 
authority  for  this  except  Plutarch.  It  would  seem  to  be  a 
(not  unnatural)  inference  of  his  from  what  he  read  in 
Thucydides  and  adopted,  together  with  what  he  read  on  the 
subject  in  Ephorus  and  did  not  adopt,  but  used  as  "  padding." 
Ephorus  (in  Diod.  Sic.,  XL  54, 55)  has  two  embassies  come  from 
Sparta  to  Athens  with  charges  of  treason  against  Themis- 
tocles, one  before  his  ostracism,  and  one  after  it,  during  his 
residence  in  Argos.  The  first  set  of  charges  are  successfully 
repelled  by  Themistocles.  This  is  manifestly  pure  invention 
on  the  part  of  Ephorus,  and  Plutarch  adopts  the  main  out- 
line of  events  as  given  by  Thucydides.  His  phraseology  of 
detail,  however,  in  chapters  raii.  and  xxiii,  is  strongly 
influenced  by  that  of  Ephorus. 

Earlier  accusations :  at  the  process  of  ostracism,  if  the 
words  are  to  be  harmonized  with  the  Thucydidean  outline 


-XXIV.]      NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES  239 

of  events  ;  they  are  really  due,  however,  to  impressions  made 
upon  Plutarch  by  the  version  of  Ephorus  (see  the  preceding 
note). 

The  Congress  of  Hellenes :  this  phrase  also  is  due  to 
Ephorus,  and  implies  that  the  Congress  of  allies  which  met 
on  the  Isthmus  in  the  fall  of  481,  to  take  measures  to 
oppose  the  advance  of  Xerxes,  might  be  still  called  together, 
or  met  regularly,  —  a  pure  invention.  Themistocles  was 
summoned  to  appear  at  Athens.  Failing  to  do  so,  he  was 
pronounced  guilty  of  treason,  exiled  from  Hellas,  and  his 
property  was  confiscated. 

XXIV.  From  the  time  when  Themistocles  left  Hellas 
with  a  traitor's  punishments  visited  upon,  or  suspended  over 
him  and  all  his  family,  only  the  main  outlines  of  his  career 
could,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  be  known  to  his  former 
countrymen.  But  popular  tradition  delighted  to  fill  in  these 
outlines  with  all  sorts  of  romantic  details,  most  of  which 
were  pure  invention.  When  Thucydides  came  to  write  his 
famous  excursus  on  Pausanias  and  Themistocles  (see  the 
note  on  xxiii.  2),  nearly  two  generations  after  the  events 
recorded,  he  was  obliged  to  thread  his  way  critically  through 
a  mass  of  conflicting  stories,  most  of  which  were  in  oral  cir- 
culation, some  of  which,  probably,  had  already  been  recorded 
by  the  chronicler,  Hellanicus,  or  the  partisan  rhapsodist, 
Stesimbrotus,  or  the  local  historian  of  Lampsacus,  Charon. 
It  is  thought  that  he  also  obtained  certain  authentic  details 
from  the  Greek  cities  in  Asia  Minor  over  which  Themistocles 
exercised  an  authority  given  him  by  the  Persian  king.  His 
account  of  Themistocles  became  standard,  and  is  followed  in 
the  main  by  Plutarch,  though  he  introduces  variations  due 
either  to  his  own  independent  interpretation  of  the  proba- 
bilities in  a  given  case,  or  to  that  of  some  writer  who,  like 
himself,  felt  at  liberty  to  depart  slightly  from  the  outlines 
or  details  of  the  Thucydidean  story.  It  is,  of  course,  not 
impossible,  though  seldom  probable  that  such  variations 
rest  on  authentic  contemporary  testimony.  They  may  go 
back  to  Hellanicus  and  Stesimbrotus,  contemporaries  of 


240          NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES      [XXIV.- 

Thucydides,  either  directly  or  through  Ephorus  and  Herac- 
leides  of  the  fourth  century;  or  they  may  be  independent 
features  of  the  stories  of  these  later  historians.  It  is  now 
impossible  to  distinguish.  Several  general  statements  of 
Thucydides  have  been  supplied  with  detail  which  is  clearly 
of  the  inferential  sort  so  common  in  Scholia  and  late  com- 
mentators. The  story  of  Thucydides  will  be  given  in  full 
in  the  following  notes,  and  the  reader  will  make  his  own 
comparisons. 

XXIV.  1.  "  Themistocles  received  information  of  their 
purpose  "  (continuing  from  the  passage  cited  in  the  note  on 
xxiiL  1),  "and  fled  from  the  Peloponnesus  to  the  Corcy- 
rseans.  who  were  under  an  obligation  to  him"  (Thucyd., 
i  136,  1).  or,  better,  "who  had  recognized  him  as  public 
benefactor."  This  honorary  title,  bestowed  by  public  decree 
and  inscription,  required  no  further  services  from  the 
recipient,  and  probably  gave  him  the  right  of  asylum. 

Corcyra:  the  modern  Corfu,  the  most  northerly  of  the 
larger  "Ionian  Islands." 

For  he  had  served  as  arbiter,  etc. :  this  explanation  is 
not  given  by  Thucydides,  and  looks  like  a  manufacture 
from  the  quarrel  between  Corcyra  and  Corinth  over  Epi- 
damnus,  which  was  one  of  the  immediate  occasions  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war  (Thucyd.>  L  24-55).  It  is  uncertain 
where  Plutarch  got  it.  A  Scholiast  on  Thucydides  gives 
an  entirely  different  one,  namely,  that  Themistocles  averted 
from  Corcyra  the  consequences  of  her  failure  to  unite 
with  the  other  Greeks  against  Persia  (cf.  c.  xx.  2).  This 
also  looks  like  an  invention,  based  on  Herodotus,  vii  168; 
viii.  112. 

Leucas :  also  one  of  the  larger  "  Ionian  Islands,"  off  the 
coast  of  Acarnania.  It  was  a  colony  of  Corinth,  and  nowhere 
else  is  any  claim  of  Corcyra  upon  it  mentioned. 

XXIV.  2.  "  The  Corcyrseans  said  that  they  were  afraid  to 
keep  him,  lest  they  should  incur  the  enmity  of  Athens  and 
Lacedsemon ;  so  they  conveyed  him  to  the  neighboring  con- 
tinent, whither  he  was  followed  by  the  officers,  who  con- 


-XXIV.  2]      NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES         241 

stantly  enquired  in  which  direction  he  had  gone  and  pursued 
him  everywhere.  Owing  to  an  accident  he  was  compelled  to 
stop  at  the  house  of  Admetus,  king  of  the  Molossians,  who 
was  not  his  friend.  He  chanced  to  be  absent  from  home,  but 
Themistocles  presented  himself  as  a  suppliant  to  his  wife, 
and  was  instructed  by  her  to  take  their  son  and  sit  at  the 
hearth"  (Thucyd.,  i.  136,  1-3). 

The  Molossians :  one  of  the  three  tribes  of  Epirus,  occupy- 
ing the  southern  part  of  the  country.  It  afterwards  won 
supremacy  over  the  whole  country,  when  Alexander,  brother 
of  Olympias  the  wife  of  Philip  of  Macedon,  was  its  king,  and 
it  furnished  Pyrrhus  to  the  world. 

Asked  some  favor :  what  this  was,  Thucydides  does  not 
state.  His  words  are  (continuing  the  preceding  citation) : 
"Admetus  soon  returned,  and  then  Themistocles  told  him 
who  he  was,  adding  that  if  in  times  past  he  had  opposed  any 
request  which  Admetus  had  made  to  the  Athenians,  he  ought 
not  to  retaliate  on  an  exile."  He  further  pleaded  that  "  he 
had  opposed  Admetus  hi  a  mere  matter  of  business,  and  not 
when  life  was  at  stake."  The  same  Scholiast  who  supplies 
the  details  of  the  service  rendered  the  Corcyraeans  by  The- 
mistocles (xxiv.  1),  states  that  Admetus  had  once  sought  an 
alliance  with  Athens,  —  a  natural  and  easy  guess. 

In  a  way  quite  peculiar  and  extraordinary  :  this  roman- 
tic trait  in  the  legend  of  Themistocles  even  Thucydides  has 
not  the  heart  to  eliminate  from  his  story.  It  fastened  itself 
in  popular  tradition  all  the  more  easily  under  the  influence 
of  the  famous  tales  of  Telephus  suppliantly  forcing  the  mercy 
of  Agamemnon  by  flying  to  the  altar  with  the  boy  Orestes, 
and  of  Odysseus  supplicating  king  Alcinoiis  from  the  hearth, 
at  the  instigation  of  the  queen  Arete\  The  former  may  well 
have  been  a  telling  scene  in  the  Telephus  of  Euripides ;  the 
latter  was  familiar  from  the  Odyssey  (vii  133-181).  It  may 
even  be  that  it  was  Thucydides  who  thus  blended  features 
of  both  famous  scenes  in  his  story,  and  not  popular  tra- 
dition. Thucydides  does  not  wholly  eschew  invented  literary 
ornament. 

16 


242         NOTES  ON  THE   THEMIS TOCLES     [XXTV.s- 

XXIV.  3.  Some:  who  these  writers  were  is  unknown. 
Thucydides  is,  of  course,  to  be  included,  though  he  does  not 
give  the  name  of  the  queen.  We  get  traces  of  a  still  differ- 
ent version  in  Nepos  (Themistocles,  viii.  4),  who  has  a  "little 
daughter"  of  Admetus  seized  by  Themistocles  to  reinforce 
his  appeal  for  succor. 

Certain  others :  also  unknown.  It  is  quite  possible  that 
under  cover  of  the  plural  here  (and  in  the  "  some "  above) 
Plutarch  has  a  single  writer  only  in  mind.  Thucydides  con- 
tinues (c.  137,  1) :  "  Admetus,  hearing  his  words,  raised  him 
up,  together  with  his  own  son,  from  the  place  where  he  sat 
holding  the  child  in  his  arms,  which  was  the  most  solemn 
form  of  supplication." 

Thither  his  wife  and  children,  etc. :  the  remainder  of  the 
chapter  rests  on  the  doubtful  authority  of  Stesimbrotus  (see 
the  Introduction,  p.  32),  whom  even  Plutarch  finds  to  be 
self-contradictory. 

For  this  deed :  the  expedition  of  Themistocles'  family  to 
Epirus  was  hardly  a  capital  offence.  If  there  is  any  residual 
truth  at  all  in  these  items,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  real 
gravamen  of  the  charge  against  Epicrates  was  that  he 
furnished  Themistocles  with  money  to  effect  his  escape  to 
Asia  (c/.  c.  xxv.  3). 

Somehow  or  other:  the  glaring  inconsistency,  to  Plu- 
tarch, is  that  Themistocles  should  seek  another  wife  so  soon 
after  his  Athenian  wife  joins  him  in  exile. 

Hiero:  tyrant  of  Syracuse  after  his  still  more  famous 
brother  Gelo,  who  died  about  478,  and  like  him  fond  of 
having  Greek  poets  like  Pindar,  Simonides,  Bacchylides  and 
^schylus  at  his  court,  and  of  winning  victories  at  Delphi 
and  Olympia.  The  whole  story  looks  like  an  invention. 
Gelo  wanted  command  over  all  the  Hellenic  forces  if  he  was  to 
join  in  resisting  Xerxes  (Herod.,  vii.  158).  The  same  ambition 
is  given  to  his  brother  Hiero,  and  Themistocles  is  made  to 
cater  to  it  with  the  same  assurance  by  which,  as  popular 
tradition  had  it,  he  won  the  favor  of  Artaxerxes.  Hiero  died 
in  467  B.C. 


-XXV.  2]      NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES 

XXV.  1.  Theophrastus :  see  the  Introduction,  p.  41. 
His  work  "  On  Koyalty  "  is  not  preserved.  The  illustrative 
anecdote  taken  from  it  has  little  historic  value.  It  is  a  stock 
story  to  illustrate  Athenian  hatred  of  tyranny,  based  on  the 
undoubted  attack  upon  Dionysius,  a  later  tyrant  of  Syracuse, 
made  by  the  orator  Lysias  in  his  Olympic  oration  (388  B.  c.). 
Plutarch  therefore  refutes  a  fabricated  story  of  Stesimbrotus 
with  a  story  as  clearly  fabricated. 

XXV.  2.  Thucydides  says :  "  Not  long  afterwards  "  (con- 
tinuing from  the  citation  in  the  note  on  xxiv.  3)  "the 
Athenians  and  Lacedaemonians  came  and  pressed  him  to  give 
up  the  fugitive,  but  he  refused ;  and  as  Themistocles  wanted 
to  go  to  the  King,  sent  him  on  foot  across  the  country  to  the 
sea  at  Pydna  (which  was  in  the  kingdom  of  Alexander). 
There  he  found  a  merchant  vessel  sailing  to  Ionia,  in  which 
he  embarked;  it  was  driven,  however,  by  a  storm  to  the 
station  of  the  Athenian  fleet  which  was  blockading  Naxos. 
He  was  unknown  to  his  fellow-passengers,  but,  fearing  what 
might  happen,  he  told  the  captain  who  he  was  and  why  he 
fled,  threatening  if  he  did  not  save  his  life  to  say  that  he  had 
been  bribed  to  take  him  on  board.  The  only  hope  was  that 
no  one  should  be  allowed  to  leave  the  ship  while  they  had  to 
remain  off  Naxos ;  if  he  complied  with  his  request,  the  obli- 
gation should  be  abundantly  repaid.  The  captain  agreed,  and 
after  anchoring  in  a  rough  sea  for  a  day  and  a  night  off  the 
Athenian  station,  he  at  length  arrived  at  Ephesus.  Themis- 
tocles rewarded  him  with  a  liberal  present ;  for  he  received 
soon  afterwards  from  his  friends  the  property  which  he  had 
deposited  at  Athens  and  Argos"  (c.  137,  1-3). 

The  version  of  the  flight  from  Admetus  to  Asia  which 
Ephorus  gave  must  have  been  quite  different,  judging  from 
Diodorus,  XL  56,  2-4 :  "  But  soon  the  Lacedaemonians  sent 
an  embassy  of  the  most  prominent  Spartans  to  Admetus  and 
demanded  the  surrender  of  Themistocles  for  punishment, 
accusing  him  of  being  the  betrayer  and  defiler  of  all  Hellas. 
In  addition,  they  said  that  if  he  did  not  surrender  the 
fugitive,  they  would  make  war  upon  him  with  all  the  Hel- 


244          NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES      [XXV.  2- 

lenes.  The  King  was  afraid  of  their  threats,  but  felt  pity 
for  his  suppliant,  and  wanted  to  avoid  the  disgrace  of  sur- 
rendering him.  So  he  persuaded  Themistocles  to  go  away 
as  speedily,  as  possible,  unbeknown  to  the  Lacedaemonians, 
and  gave  him  an  abundance  of  gold  to  help  him  in  his 
flight.  So  Themistocles,  since  he  was  driven  forth  from 
every  refuge,  took  the  money,  and  fled  by  night  from  the 
country  of  the  Molossians.  The  king  arranged  the  whole 
flight  with  him.  He  found  two  youths  of  Lyncestis  who 
were  engaged  in  traffic,  and  therefore  well  acquainted  with 
the  roads,  and  with  these  Themistocles  took  to  flight.  He 
eluded  the  Lacedaemonians  by  travelling  in  the  night,  and 
through  the  favor  and  endurance  of  the  youths  made  his 
way  to  Asia.  There  he  had  a  guest-friend  named  Lysithi- 
des,  of  great  repute  and  wealth,  and  with  him  he  took 
refuge." 

Pydna  :  in  southern  Macedonia  (Pieria),  on  the  Thermalc 
gulf. 

Naxos :  the  largest  island  of  the  Cyclades,  which  revolted 
from  the  League  of  Delos,  probably  in  470-469  B.C.,  and  was 
reduced  by  the  Athenians  from  the  position  of  an  ally  to 
that  of  a  subject  (Thucyd.,  L  98,  99).  The  chronology  of  the 
period  is  much  disputed.  Busolt  has  Themistocles  ostracized 
in  473-472,  condemned  as  traitor  in  471-470,  escape  from 
Admetus  to  Asia  in  the  summer  of  469,  wander  among  the 
coast^cities  till  the  accession  of  Artaxerxes  in  465-464,  and 
then  go  up  to  the  Persian  court  (Griechische  Geschichte,  iii. 
pp.  129-132). 

XXV.  3.  The  Bum  total :  it  was  natural  that  the  later 
historians  and  philosophers,  like  Theopompus  and  Theo- 
phrastus,  should  seek  to  give  definite  figures  where  Thu- 
cydides  has  only  indefinite  sums.  Malevolent  tradition  could 
easily  distort  also  the  proportion  between  the  means  which 
Themistocles  commanded  before  and  after  his  political  career. 
The  story  of  Ephorus,  cited  above  under  §  2,  shows  the 
attempt  of  a  consistent  apologist  to  account  for  the  posses- 
sion by  Themistocles  of  considerable  money  when  he  landed 


-XXVI.  i]      NOTES  ON  THE  THEMISTOCLES        245 

in  Asia,  —  king  Admetus  gave  it  to  him.  The  poverty  of 
Aristides  was  a  favorite  rhetorical  contrast  to  the  wealth  of 
Themistocles  (Aristides,  c.  xxv.),  but  this  also  was  un- 
doubtedly exaggerated.  How  malignant  popular  tradition 
about  the  unrighteous  extortions  of  Themistocles  became, 
may  be  seen  from  Herodotus,  viiL  112,  where  the  hero  of 
Salamis  is  accused  of  having  blackmailed  the  islanders  who 
sided  with  the  Persians,  "  in  pursuit  of  his  private  gain," 
"  unbeknown  to  the  other  captains,"  —  an  utterly  absurd 
charge. 

XXVI.  Of  what  intervened  between  the  landing  of  The- 
mistocles and  his  visit  to  Artaxei^ses,  when  the  hunted  fugi- 
tive was  establishing  communication  with  friends  at  home  and 
influential  Persians  at  the  court,  almost  nothing  could  posi- 
tively be  known.  Hence  romantic  invention  was  busy  to 
supply  the  gap.  All  that  Thucydides  is  willing  to  affirm  is 
as  follows  (continuing  the  citation  in  the  note  on  xxv.  2)  : 
"  He  then  went  up  into  the  interior  with  a  certain  Persian 
who  dwelt  on  the  coast,  and  sent  a  letter  to  Artaxerxes, 
the  son  of  Xerxes,  who  had  lately  succeeded  to  the  throne  " 
0.  137,  3). 

XXVI.  1.  Cyme :  an  ^Eolian  city,  opposite  the  southern 
coast  of  Lesbos.  Thucydides,  as  has  been  seen,  makes  the 
fugitive  land  at  Ephesus,  a  natural  refuge  after  the  peril  at 
Naxos.  Another  tradition,  which  cannot  be  surely  traced, 
made  the  fugitive  suffer  peril  of  capture  by  an  Athenian 
fleet  at  Thasos,  an  island  in  the  northern  ^Egean.  This 
island  was  easy  of  access  from  Pydna  (<?.  xxv.  2),  and,  like 
Naxos,  revolted  from  the  League  of  Delos,  only  to  be 
reduced  to  subjection  by  the  Athenians.  The  date  of  this 
revolt  (466),  however,  would  imply  an  altogether  improbable 
residence  of  Themistocles  at  the  court  of  Admetus.  But  an 
account  of  Themistocles'  flight  which  used  Thasos  rather 
than  Naxos  for  the  sensational  peril  of  capture  by  his  own 
countrymen  would  more  naturally  select  some  Greek  city 
opposite  Thasos  for  the  Asiatic  landing-place.  Cyme  must 
have  been  a  port  of  some  size,  for  the  fleet  of  Xerxes  wintered 


246         NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES     [XXVL  i- 

there  after  Salamis  (Herod.,  viii  130).  It  was  the  birth- 
place of  the  historian  Ephorus,  and  may  have  been  selected 
by  him  as  the  landing-place  for  Themistocles.  Unfortu- 
nately, Diodoms  condenses  Ephoras  at  this  point  so  much 
that  no  certainty  can  be  felt  on  the  question.  The  version 
of  Ephorus  which  Diodorus  gives  may  be  seen  in  the  citation 
on  xxv.  2. 

Nicogenes:  the  name  is  Lysithides  in  Ephorus,  but  the 
description  of  both  is  the  same.  Lysithides,  too,  in  Ephorus 
(Diodorus,  xi.  56,  5-8),  is  a  friend  of  the  King,  and  concocts 
the  plan  to  bring  Themistocles  safely  up  to  him  which  Plu- 
arch  describes  with  much  the  same  language,  in  §  3. 

For  a  few  days :  days  instead  of  years  are  necessary  if 
Themistocles  goes  up  to  meet  Xerxes,  and  not  Artaxerxes, 
as  the  more  romantic  writers  insisted.  See  the  note  on 
xxvii.  1,  and  that  on  "Naxos,"  xxv.  2. 

XXVI.  2.  This  dream  of  Themistocles  is  found  nowhere 
else.  Plutarch  probably  got  it  from  Phanias,  as  well  as 
other  marvellous  incidents  in  the  remainder  of  the  biography. 

The  following  verse :  a  trochaic  tetrameter  catalectic  (the 
metre  of  Longfellow's  "  Psalm  of  Life  ").  The  thought  is  a 
prevalent  one :  "  The  Night  for  Counsel ! "  "  Her  dreams 
shall  give  thee  wisdom  to  succeed ! " 

An  eagle :  dream-symbol  of  the  King,  with  whom  Themis- 
tocles was  to  find  the  peace  and  security  symbolized  by  the 
"  herald's  wand." 

XXVI.  3.  Tents  .  .  .  upon  .  .  .  waggons :  the  Persian 
"  Harmamaxa,"  or  litter.  Xerxes  had  one,  besides  his  splen- 
did war-chariot,  and  "  was  accustomed,"  according  to  Herod- 
otus (vii.  41),  "every  now  and  then,  when  the  fancy  took 
him,  to  alight  from  his  chariot  and  travel  in  a  litter."  These 
luxurious  vehicles  impressed  the  Greek  fancy,  and  became 
symbolical  of  Persian  effeminacy.  ^Eschylus  called  them 
"  wheeled  tents"  (Persians,  1000  f.).  Cyrus  the  Younger 
reviewed  his  army  in  a  chariot,  the  Cilician  queen,  Epyaxa, 
accompanying  him  on  her  "  harmamaxa  "  (Xenophon,  Anab.,  i 
2,  16-18).  The  loitering  Athenian  envoys  to  the  Persian 


-XXVII.  1]     NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOGLES        247 

court,  on  high  pay  per  diem, "  drag  their  tedious  way  along  the 
'  dusty,  dull  Caystrian  plains,'  tented  wayfarers,  smothered 
with  cushions  in  the  litters,  tired  to  death"  (Aristophanes, 
Acharnians,  68-71).  See  also  the  notes  on  xviii.  1. 

XXVII.  1.  Charon,  Ephorus,  Dinon,  Clitarchus,  Hera- 
cleides :  see  the  Introduction,  pp.  37,  42,  43. 

It  was  Xerxes  to  whom  he  came :  it  was  of  course  a  far 
more  romantic  denouement  to  have  the  victor  of  Salamis  seek 
refuge  with  the  King  whom  he  had  vanquished  at  Salamis, 
and  perhaps  the  vague  language  of  Herodotus  justifies  us  in 
ranging  that  historian  with  Plutarch's  second  class,  corrected 
in  that  case  by  the  explicit  testimony  of  Thucydides  (cited 
in  the  note  on  xxvi  ad  init.^).  Herodotus  says  (viii.  109, 
ad  Jin.')  :  "  All  this  Themistocles  said "  (dissuading  the 
Athenians  from  destroying  the  bridges  of  Xerxes),  "  in  the 
hope  of  establishing  a  claim  upon  the  Persian ;  for  he  wanted 
to  have  a  safe  retreat  in  case  any  mischance  should  befall 
him  at  Athens,  —  which  indeed  came  to  pass  afterwards." 
The  tendency  of  popular  tradition,  certainly,  would  be  to 
change  from  Artaxerxes  to  Xerxes,  rather  than  vice  versa. 
Where  such  authorities  are  at  variance,  one  agrees  readily 
with  Nepos  (Themistocles,  ix.)  :  "  Scio  plerosque  ita  scrip- 
sisse,  Themistoclen  Xerxe  regnante  in  Asiam  transisse ;  sed 
ego  potissimum  Thucydidi  credo,  quod  et  setate  proximus  de 
iis,  qui  illorum  temporum  historiam  reliquerunt,  et  eiusdem 
civitatis  fuit.  Is  autem  ait  ad  Artaxerxem  eum  venisse." 

The  chronological  data :  see  the  note  on  "  Naxos," 
xxv.  2. 

Be  that  as  it  may :  i.  e.  whether  it  was  Xerxes  or  Arta- 
xerxes to  whom  Themistocles  came.  With  these  words  Plu- 
tarch returns  from  a  critical  digression  to  the  story  of 
Phanias,  whom  he  is  following  now,  since  Thucydides  does 
not  furnish  him  with  sufficient  dramatic  detail. 

Artabanus :  the  murderer  of  Xerxes,  who  helped  Arta- 
xerxes to  the  throne  through  the  death  of  an  older  brother, 
and  who  ended  his  career  of  bloody  scheming  when  he  was 
slam  as  conspirator  against  the  life  of  his  new  master.  He 


248        NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES     [XXVII.  i- 

is  very  appropriately  selected  as  the  mediator  between 
Theinistocles  and  the  King,  though  the  details  of  the  anec- 
dote are  clearly  invented.  Thucydides  (i.  137,  4),  as  we 
have  seen,  has  Themistocles,  after  coming  up  into  the  interior 
"  with  one  of  the  Persians  who  dwelt  on  the  coast,"  send  a 
letter  to  Artaxerxes,  claiming  that  a  debt  of  gratitude  was 
due  him  for  services  rendered  Xerxes  before  and  after 
Salamis  (see  the  citation  in  the  note  on  xvi  1),  and  con- 
cluding :  "  Now  I  am  here,  able  to  do  you  many  other  ser- 
vices, and  persecuted  by  the  Hellenes  for  your  sake.  Let 
me  wait  a  year,  and  then  I  will  in  person  explain  why  I 
have  come."  It  is  not  improbable  that  Themistocles  had 
one  or  more  interviews  with  the  King,  and  that  this  favor 
was  obtained  through  Artabanus,  the  prime  favorite  of  the 
King,  but  all  details  of  the  interviews  both  with  Artabanus 
and  Artaxerxes  are  products  of  Greek  fancy. 

XXVII.  2.  To  pay  obeisance  :  i.  e.  to  prostrate  one's  self 
and  kiss  the  ground  before  the  object  of  homage.  This  pecu- 
liarly Persian  custom  excited  the  liveliest  interest  among  the 
Greeks,  and  was  used  by  them  as  a  stock  illustration  of  the 
abjectness  required  by  despotism.  It  became  therefore  a 
standing  query,  how  each  one  of  the  many  Hellenes  who, 
first  and  last,  found  access  to  the  Persian  court,  adjusted 
himself  to  this  custom.  His  natural  feeling  should  have 
been  that  expressed  by  Xenophon  in  his  first  speech  to  the 
betrayed  and  disheartened  "  Ten  Thousand  "  after  his  election 
as  general  (Andb.  iii.  2,  13):  "Proofs  of  these  victories" 
(of  your  ancestors  over  the  ancestors  of  your  opponents,  the 
Persians)  "  are  to  be  seen  in  the  trophies  erected ;  but  the 
greatest  witness  is  the  freedom  of  the  cities  in  which  ye 
were  born  and  bred ;  for  ye  pay  obeisance  to  no  man  as  your 
master,  but  to  the  gods  alone."  So  Sperthias  and  Bulis,  the 
Spartan  envoys  to  the  Persian  court,  "  when  they  were  come 
to  Susa  into  the  King's  presence,  and  the  guards  ordered 
them  to  fall  down  and  pay  obeisance,  and  went  so  far  as  to 
use  force  to  compel  them,  refused,  and  said  they  would  never 
do  any  such  thing,  even  were  their  heads  thrust  down  to  the 


-XXVIII.  1]     NOTES  ON  THE    THEMIS TOCLES       249 

ground,  for  it  was  not  their  custom  to  pay  obeisance  to  men, 
nor  had  they  come  to  Persia  for  that  purpose  "  (Herod.,  vii. 
136).  Possibly  this  story  of  Spartan  attitude  toward  the 
"  obeisance  "  suggested  the  story  here  told  of  Themistocles, 
—  both  capital  stories,  but  nothing  more.  Nepos  tells  a 
story  very  like  this,  —  Chiliarch  and  all,  —  of  the  Athenian 
admiral  Conon.  Desiring  an  interview  with  the  King,  Conon 
is  told  by  the  Chiliarch,  or  Grand  Vizier,  that  a  personal 
interview  will  make  the  "  obeisance "  by  Conon  absolutely 
necessary ;  but  that  he  can  secure,  through  the  offices  of  the 
Chiliarch,  all  that  he  wishes  from  the  King  by  letter,  in  case 
the  obeisance  is  repugnant  to  him.  Conon  replied  that  the 
obeisance  was  not  repugnant  to  him  personally,  but  he 
thought  it  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  sovereign  city  whose 
envoy  he  was  to  abandon  its  customs  for  those  of  the  Bar- 
barians (Conon,  iii.).  Details  of  this  story  also  seem  to 
have  been  worked  into  the  Themistocles  story. 

XXVII.  3.   Eratosthenes:    see  the  Introduction,  p.  43. 
It  was  perhaps  in  connection  with  some  geographical  item, 
like  the  transportation  of  the  Eretrians  by  Datis  and  Arta- 
phernes  to  Susa  (Herod.,  vi.  101,  115,  119),  that  Eratosthenes 
came  to  speak  thus  of  Themistocles. 

XXVIII.  1.   The  cautious  story  of  Thucydides,  of  which 
this  and  the  following  chapter  is  an  imaginative  enlarge- 
ment, is  as  follows  (i.  138, 1,  2) :  "  The  King"  (on  reading  the 
letter,  the  conclusion  of  which  is  cited  in  the  note  on  "  Arta- 
banus,"  xxvii.  1)  "  is  said  to  have  been  astonished  at  the 
boldness  of  his  character,  and  told  him  to  wait  a  year  as  he 
proposed.     In  the  interval  he  made  himself  acquainted,  as 
far  as  he  could,  with  the  Persian  language  and  the  manners 
of  the  country.     When  the  year  was  over,  he  arrived  at  the 
court  and  became  a  greater  man  there  than  any  Hellene  had 
ever  been  before.     This  was  due  partly  to  his  previous  repu- 
tation, and  partly  to  the  hope  which  he  inspired  in  the  King's 
mind  that  he  would  enslave  Hellas  to  him ;  above  all,  his 
ability  had  been  tried  and  not  found  wanting  "  (here  follows 
the  famous  eulogy,  part  of  which  is  cited  in  the  note  on  ii.  1). 


250       NOTES  ON  THE    THEMIS TO  CLES    [XXVIIL  i- 

"  I  who  thus  come  to  thee,"  etc. :  the  speech  thus  put  into 
the  mouth  of  Themistocles  is  a  rhetorical  enlargement  of  the 
letter,  the  contents  of  which  are  given  by  Thucydides  (i.  137, 
4,  already  cited).  Both  speech  and  letter  must  be  regarded 
as  literary  embellishment,  though  the  letter  of  Thucydides, 
like  the  speeches  which  he  puts  into  the  mouths  of  his 
personages,  undoubtedly  contains  "  the  sentiments  proper  to 
the  occasion  "  (i.  22). 

"I  hindered  the  pursuit  of  the  Hellenes":  this  speech, 
unlike  the  letter  in  Thucydides,  alludes  only  to  the  second, 
and  less  authentic  service  of  Themistocles  to  Xerxes,  namely, 
the  second  Salamis  "  stratagem  "  (c.  XVL  2,  3). 

XXVIIL  2.  "  Take  my  foes  to  witness,"  etc. :  "  per- 
secuted by  the  Hellenes  for  your  sake "  in  the  letter  of 
Thucydides. 

The  vision :  cf.  c.  xxvi  2. 

The  oracle :  mentioned  nowhere  else. 

Dodoneean  Zeus:  the  Zeus  worshipped  at  Dodona  in 
Epirus,  one  of  the  earliest  shrines  and  oracles  of  the  Hellenic 
race,  the  influence  of  which  only  slowly  paled  before  that  of 
Delphi  Excavations  have  fixed  the  site  of  the  shrine  near 
the  modern  loannina,  and  brought  to  light  votive  inscriptions 
dating  from,  the  fifth  to  the  first  century  B.  c. 

XXVIII.  3.  Arimanius :  i.  e.  Ahriman,  the  Evil  Spirit  of 
the  Persian  religion,  the  enemy  of  Ahura  Mazda  (Ormazd). 

Details  of  story  in  Diodorus  (xi.  56,  57)  are  still  more 
extravagant.  Lysithides,  the  friend  who  brings  Themisto- 
cles in  the  woman's  litter  safely  across  the  country,  intro- 
duces him  into  the  presence  of  the  King,  who  is  persuaded 
that  the  fugitive  has  done  him  no  wrong,  and  remits  the 
penalties  hanging  over  his  head.  But  Themistocles  at  once 
falls  into  still  greater  peril.  Mandane*,  the  sister  of  the 
King,  was  mother  of  the  three  youths  whom  Themistocles 
had  been  forced  to  sacrifice  just  before  the  battle  of  Salamis 
(Tliemistodes,  xiii  2).  She  inflames  the  Persian  nobles  to 
demand  of  the  King  the  punishment  of  Themistocles.  But 
the  King  institutes  a  court  of  judgment  from  among  the 


-XXIX.  3]     NOTES   ON  THE   THEMIS TO  CLES         251 

nobles,  and  before  this  court  Themistocles,  having  been  given 
time  to  learn  the  Persian  language,  pleads  his  own  cause 
successfully.  The  King  is  overjoyed,  loads  Themistocles 
with  gifts,  gives  him  a  noble  Persian  woman  of  great  beauty 
to  wife,  a  sumptuous  establishment  to  live  in,  and  three 
cities  for  revenue. 

XXIX.    1.   The  reward  proclaimed :  cf.  c.  xxvi.  1. 

XXIX.  2.  Asked  for  a  year :  by  letter,  according  to  Thu- 
cydides  (cited  in  the  notes  on  xxvii.  1.  and  xxviii.  1). 

Learned  the  Persian  language :  "  as  far  as  he  could," 
says  Thucydides,  implying  scant  success;  "sufficiently  to 
have  interviews  with  the  King  by  himself,"  says  Plutarch ; 
well  enough  to  plead  his  cause  triumphantly  before  a  tri- 
bunal of  Persian  nobles,  according  to  the  sensational  tale 
in  Diodorus  (cited  in  the  note  on  xxviii.  3)  ;  "  so  that  he  is 
said  to  have  pleaded  before  the  King  far  more  skilfully  than 
the  native  Persians,"  says  Nepos  (Themistocles,  c.  x.).  Here 
are  three  degrees  of  romantic  exaggeration. 

XXIX.  3.  Far  beyond  those  paid  to  other  foreigners : 
"  became  a  greater  man  at  court  than  any  Hellene  had  ever 
been  before,"  according  to  Thucydides.  The  details  which 
follow  are  the  inevitable  supplements  of  romantic  tradition, 
—  inferential  inventions. 

The  Magian  lore :  the  worship  of  the  elements,  —  earth, 
air,  fire  and  water,  —  and  the  principles  of  soothsaying,  divin- 
ing and  conjuring,  which  were  cultivated  by  the  Magian 
priesthood  in  opposition  to  the  purer  rites  and  doctrines  of 
Zoroaster. 

Demaratus  the  Spartan :  type  of  the  Spartan  refugee  at 
the  Persian  court.  He  was  historically  a  deposed  king  of 
Sparta,  who  took  refuge  from  his  enemies  with  Darius,  and 
accompanied  Xerxes  on  his  expedition  to  Greece,  hoping  for 
restoration  to  his  throne.  He  plays  the  r6le  of  the  wise 
but  unheeded  counsellor  in  the  story  of  Herodotus  (vi.  51-70 ; 
viii.  3;  101-105;  209;  234-237).  The  story  told  of  him 
here  was  in  Phylarchus,  an  historian  of  whom  Plutarch  speaks 
very  disparagingly  in  xxxii.  2.  It  was  a  happy  fancy  on  the 


252        NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLE8      [XXIX.  3- 

part  of  some  romantic  writer,  Phylarchus  or  another,  or 
possibly  Plutarch  himself,  to  bring  the  great  Spartan  into 
relations  with  the  great  Athenian  refugee  by  means  of  this 
story  of  the  tiara. 

XXIX.  4.  Closer  relations :  as  in  the  last  decade  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war,  and  from  that  time  on  till  Alexander's 
conquest. 

""We  should  have  been  undone,"  etc. :  i.e.  but  for  our 
loss  of  home  and  country  we  should  have  lost  this  luxury,  — 
a  famous  mot,  evidently,  which  Plutarch  quotes  twice  besides 
(Morals,  328  F  =  De  Alexandri  fortuna,  v.,  and  602  A  = 
De  exilio,  viL),  the  first  time  apropos  of  the  three  cities  given 
Themistocles  for  revenue,  the  second  time,  as  here,  apropos  of 
a  "  royal  feast." 

Most  writers:  including  and  starting  with  Thucydides, 
who  says  (L  138,  5)  :  "  the  King  assigned  to  him,  for  bread, 
Magnesia,  which  produced  a  revenue  of  fifty  talents  in  the 
year ;  for  wine,  Lampsacus,  which  was  considered  to  be  the 
richest  in  wine  of  any  district  then  known ;  and  Myus  for 
meats."  Lampsacus  was  a  famous  Greek  city  on  the  Helles- 
pont, near  the  mouth  of  the  Propontis.  Magnesia  and  Myus 
were  Greek  cities  of  Caria,  in  the  valley  of  the  Maeander, 
near  Miletus.  It  is  probable  that  only  Magnesia  was  com- 
pletely under  Persian  control,  and  that  the  other  two  cities 
were  assigned  to  Themistocles  in  the  hope  that  his  influence 
over  them  would  restore  them  to  Persia.  This  oriental  cus- 
tom of  assigning  cities  or  even  provinces  to  royal  favorites 
meant  simply  that  the  revenues  from  them  were  set  aside 
for  the  favorite's  use.  Certain  Syrian  villages  in  which  the 
"  Ten  Thousand  "  encamped,  were  assigned  to  Queen  Pary- 
satis  "for  girdle-money"  (Anab.,  L  4,  9).  The  Greek  city 
of  Anthilla,  in  Egypt,  near  Naucratis,  "  which  is  a  place  of 
note,  is  assigned  expressly  to  the  wife  of  the  ruler  of  Egypt 
for  the  time  being,  to  keep  her  in  shoes.  Such  has  been  the 
custom  ever  since  Egypt  fell  under  the  Persian  yoke  "  (Herod., 
ii  98).  Plato  makes  Socrates  say  (Alcibiades,  L,  p.  123): 
M  Why,  I  have  been  informed  by  a  credible  person  who  went 


-XXX.  1]      NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES         253 

up  to  the  Great  King,  that  he  passed  through  a  large  tract 
of  excellent  land,  extending  for  nearly  a  day's  journey,  which 
the  people  of  the  country  called  '  the  Queen's  girdle,'  and 
another  which  they  called  her  veil;  and  several  other  fair 
and  fertile  districts,  which  were  reserved  for  the  adornment 
of  the  Queen,  and  are  named  after  her  several  habiliments." 

Neanthes,  Phanias :  see  the  Introduction,  pp.  44,  41. 

Percote,  Palaescepsis :  the  first  a  small  but  ancient  city 
on  the  Hellespont  below  Lampsacus,  mentioned  thrice  in  the 
Iliad;  the  second  some  distance  inland,  in  the  heart  of 
Mysia,  in  later  times  famous  as  a  seat  of  philosophic 
studies,  and  as  the  place  where  Aristotle's  library  was  for 
some  time  hidden,  before  it  was  finally  brought  to  Eome 
(Strabo,  xiii.,  pp.  608,  609). 

XXX.  This  night  adventure  is  now  told  only  here.  It 
sounds  like  Phanias. 

XXX.  1.  His  commission  to  deal  with  Hellenic  affairs : 
popular  tradition  made  Themistocles  promise  the  King  to 
subdue  Hellas  to  him,  —  a  manifest  absurdity.  Thucydides 
speaks  guardedly  of  "the  hope  which  he  inspired  in  the 
King's  mind  that  he  would  enslave  Hellas  to  him,"  and  dis- 
tinctly rejects  the  story  that  "  he  poisoned  himself  because 
he  felt  that  he  could  not  accomplish  what  he  had  promised 
to  the  King."  It  was  the  ability  and  wisdom  of  Themis- 
tocles, according  to  Thucydides,  which  won  the  favor  of  the 
King.  He  undoubtedly  served  the  King  as  adviser  in 
Hellenic  affairs. 

Upper  Phrygia :  Phrygia  Major,  the  great  central  plateau 
of  Asia  Minor,  distinguished  from  the  Troad,  or  Phrygia 
Minor. 

Pisidians:  dwellers  in  the  mountains  between  Phrygia 
Major  and  Pamphylia,  a  predatory  folk. 

Mother  of  the  Gods:  Khea,  or  Cybele,  Magna  Mater,  re- 
vered in  all  Asia  Minor.  What  was  held  to  be  her  oldest 
shrine  was  at  Pessinus  in  Phrygia  Major,  under  Mount 
Dindymon,  whence  the  goddess  is  called  Dindymene  (as 
in  §  2).  "  She  is  not  the  ordinary  earth-goddess  of  fruitful 


254          NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES      [XXX.  l- 

valleys  and  fields,  but  rather  a  mountain-goddess,  whose  seat 
is  in  the  mysterious  privacy  of  mountain  forests,  and  who  is 
worshipped  in  mystic  and  orgiastic  rites  as  Mother  Nature  " 
(Robert-Preller,  Griechische  Mythologie,  pp.  638  f.). 

XXXI.  1,  2.  This  story  is  now  found  only  here.  It  is 
probably  an  invention.  The  restoration  by  Alexander  the 
Great,  or  his  successors,  of  the  treasures  taken  from  Athens 
by  Xerxes,  especially  of  the  familiar  bronze  statues  of  Har- 
modius  and  Aristogeiton  (Pausanias,  i.  8,  5,  with  Frazer's 
notes),  led  to  the  association  of  another  well  known  and 
popular  bronze  in  like  manner  with  Themistocles.  The 
bronze  statue  of  Artemis,  dedicated  on  the  Acropolis  by  the 
sons  of  Themistocles  (Pausanias,  L  26,  4),  gave  this  inven- 
tion credence. 

Water  commissioner:  it  is  only  in  this  anecdote  that  we 
learn  of  such  an  office,  which,  however,  would  seem  to  have 
been  a  necessary  one  in  a  city  so  dependent  as  Athens  was  on 
an  artificial  water  supply.  See  Gardner  and  Jevons,  Manual 
of  Greek  Antiquities,  p.  372. 

Made  and  dedicated  from  fines :  so  at  Olympia  (Pausan- 
ias, v.  21,  2),  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Cronius,  on  the  left  of  the 
way  leading  into  the  stadium,  on  a  terrace  of  stone,  where 
the  athletes  going  to  their  various  contests  would  surely  see 
them,  there  stood  bronze  images  of  Zeus,  sixteen  in  number. 
"  These  images  were  made  from  the  fines  imposed  on  athletes 
who  wantonly  violated  the  rules  of  the  games :  they  are 
called  Zanes  (Zeuses)  by  the  natives." 

Theopompus :  the  item  clearly  testifies  to  a  depreciatory 
version  of  Themistocles'  Asiatic  life.  He  was  a  vagabond. 
See  the  Introduction,  p.  38. 

Had  a  house  in  Magnesia :  he  was  "  governor  "  of  the  rich 
district  in  which  the  city  lay  (Thucydidcs,  L  138,  5),  and 
coined  money  in  his  own  name,  like  other  sovereigns.  Two 
of  these  coins  are  still  in  existence,  one  plated,  the  other 
silver,  of  the  value  of  an  Attic  didrachmon.  We  get 
glimpses  of  a  beneficent  activity  of  Themistocles  in  this 
position,  which  must  have  been  very  much  like  that  of  the 


(a) 


MAGNESIAN  DI DRACHM,   465-458   (?)  B.C. 

(COINAGE    OF    THEMISTOCLES) 

BlBLIOTHfcQUE   NATIONALE,    PARIS 


ATHENIAN  DI DRACHM,   527-430   B.C. 


BRITISH  MUSEUM 


ATHENIAN  BRONZES  (REVERSE)  OF  THE  ROMAN 
IMPERIAL  PERIOD:  MONUMENT  OF  VICTORY 
ERECTED  ON  SALAMIS 


BRITISH  MUSEUM 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

.CALIFOR^ 


-XXXI.  3]     NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES         255 

Greek  "  tyrants  "  before  the  Ionian  revolt.  Possis,  an  histo- 
rian of  Magnesia  cited  by  Athenseus  (xii.  p.  533  D),  attrib- 
utes to  him  the  founding  at  Magnesia  of  two  of  the  most 
beloved  popular  festivals  at  Athens,  namely,  the  Pana- 
thena'ica  and  the  C%oes-day  of  the  Antkesteria,  with  solemn 
sacrifices. 

XXXI.  3.  Egypt  revolted  with  Athenian  aid:  "Mean- 
while (459  B.C.)  Inaros  the  son  of  Psammetichus,  king  of 
the  Libyans  who  border  on  Egypt,  had  induced  the  greater 
part  of  Egypt  to  revolt  from  Artaxerxes  the  King.  He 
began  the  rebellion  at  Mareia,  a  city  opposite  the  island  of 
Pharos,  and,  having  made  himself  ruler  of  the  country,  called 
in  the  Athenians.  They  were  just  then  carrying  on  war 
against  Cyprus  with  two  hundred  ships  of  their  own  and  of 
their  allies ;  and,  quitting  the  island,  they  went  to  his  aid  " 
(Thucydides,  i.  104,  1,  2). 

Cilicia:  as  early  as  468  (probably)  Cimon  had  won  a 
double  victory  over  the  Persians,  by  land  and  sea,  at  the 
river  Eurymedon  in  Pamphylia,  the  district  of  southern  Asia 
Minor  just  west  of  Cilicia  (Thucydides,  L  100,  1).  In  461 
Cimon  was  ostracized,  to  be  recalled  in  457.  In  456  a 
powerful  Persian  force  under  Megabyzus  defeated  the  allied 
Egyptians  and  Athenians  hi  Egypt,  and  in  454  the  Athenian 
force  there  was  annihilated.  Plutarch  has  the  events  of  this 
period  (468-456)  somewhat  vaguely  in  mind. 

Cimon's  mastery  of  the  sea :  it  was  most  natural  that 
popular  tradition  should  bring  into  contrast  the  positions  of 
the  old  and  the  new  "  masters  of  the  sea."  Cf.  Plutarch's 
Cimon,  xviiL  4-6,  where  Cimon's  expedition  to  Cyprus  in 
449,  on  which  he  died,  is  confused  with  his  earlier  victories 
in  468-461.  Cimon,  it  is  there  said,  was  eager  to  attack  the 
King's  forces  "  above  all  because  he  learned  that  the  repu- 
tation and  power  of  Themistocles  were  great  among  the  Bar- 
barians, since  he  had  promised  the  King  that  when  the 
Hellenic  war  was  set  on  foot  he  would  take  the  command. 
At  any  rate,  it  is  said  that  it  was  most  of  all  due  to  his 
despair  of  his  Hellenic  undertakings,  since  he  could  not 


256          NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES    [XXXL  3- 

eclipse  the  good  fortune  and  valor  of  Cimon,  that  The- 
mistocles  took  his  own  life." 

XXXL  4.  Here  again  Thucydides  threads  his  way  cau- 
tiously through  the  masses  of  conflicting  testimony  regarding 
the  death  of  Themistocles.  He  says:  "A  sickness  put  an 
end  to  his  life,  although  some  say  that  he  poisoned  himself 
because  he  felt  that  he  could  not  accomplish  what  he  had 
promised  to  the  King"  (L  138,  4).  Thucydides  clearly 
rejects  both  promise  and  suicide. 

Drank  bull's  blood :  this  was  clearly  the  "  current  story  " 
as  early  as  424  B.  c.,  when  the  Knights  of  Aristophanes  was 
produced.  In  verses  80-84,  two  slaves  playfully  threaten 
suicide : 

(First  Slave)    "  Let 's  die,  then,  once  for  all ;  that 's  the  best  way, 
Only  we  must  contrive  to  manage  it 
Nobly  and  manfully  in  a  proper  manner." 
(Second  Slave)     "Aye,  aye.     Let's  do  things  manfully!  that's 

my  maxim ! " 
(First  Slave")     "  Well,  there  's  the  example  of  Themistocles  — 

To  drink  bull's  blood:  that  seems  a  manly  death." 
(Second  Slave)     "  Bull's  blood !  The  blood  of  the  grape,  I  say, 
good  wine !  "  (Frere.) 

Not  much  earlier  than  this,  at  any  rate  much  later  than 
the  death  of  Themistocles,  is  the  statement  by  Herodotus  (iii. 
15)  that  Psammenitus,  a  conquered  king  of  Egypt  who  had 
been  detected  by  Cambyses  in  stirring  up  revolt,  "drank 
bull's  blood,  and  died  on  the  spot."  After  this  time  we  find 
numerous  allusions  in  classical  writers  to  the  death  of  The- 
mistocles in  this  manner,  and  also  curious  speculations  as  to 
the  reason  why  bull's  blood  was  fatal  It  was  not  fatal,  and  no 
satisfactory  explanation  of  the  undoubted  belief  that  it  was 
has  yet  been  given.  Cicero  ridicules  the  whole  story 
(Brutus,  43),  and  falls  back  on  the  simple  statement  of 
Thucydides  that  Themistocles  sickened  and  died  a  natural 
death.  Nepos  also  (Themistocles,  x.  4)  accepts  this  statement, 
though  he  notes  that  Thucydides  mentions  the  rumor  that 
Themistocles  took  poison. 


-XXXI.  4]      NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES        257 

The  following  explanation  of  the  growth  of  the  legend  may 
be  hazarded.  Themistocles  was  too  extraordinary  a  man  to 
be  allowed  to  die  in  an  ordinary  fashion.  The  mysterious- 
ness  of  his  career  in  Asia  incited  the  popular  fancy  to  the 
invention  of  countless  details.  As  the  sense  of  the  great 
benefits  which  he  had  conferred  on  Greece  slowly  prevailed 
over  the  malice  felt  in  consequence  of  his  supposed  treachery, 
and  as  hatred  toward  Sparta,  his  most  venomous  persecutor, 
increased,  the  invented  details  became  apologetic  rather  than 
defamatory,  and  especially  so  in  the  case  of  rhetorical  and 
romantic  writers  like  Ephorus.  According  to  him  (Diodorus, 
XL  58,  2,  3),  Themistocles  first  bound  the  Persian  King  by  a 
solemn  oath  not  to  make  an  expedition  against  Greece  with- 
out him,  and  then,  at  the  sacrifice  of  a  bull  to  ratify  this 
oath,  filled  a  bowl  with  blood,  drank  it  off,  and  died  on  the 
spot.  So  the  King  desisted  from  his  undertaking,  and  The- 
mistocles thus  proved  by  his  death  that  he  had  always  had 
the  welfare  of  his  country  at  heart.  In  this  way  Themisto- 
cles becomes  a  martyr  for  his  country,  instead  of  dying  in 
ignoble  luxury.  It  was  hard  to  accept  the  simple  conclusion 
of  Thucydides  that  the  King  favored  him  because  he  admired 
his  wisdom.  The  promise  to  the  King  was  invented  to 
account  for  the  undoubted  wealth  and  power  which  The- 
mistocles enjoyed  at  his  hands.  The  promise  once  believed, 
and  suicide  must  be  the  end  of  a  patriotic  Themistocles. 
Suicide  once  demanded  by  the  popular  fancy,  and  simple 
poison  is  not  sufficient.  Some  unusual  drug  is  needed,  and 
some  spectacular  scene. 

This  was  suggested  to  the  inventive  fancy  of  popular 
tradition  and  of  romantic  writers  by  the  very  monument  to 
his  memory  erected  by  his  grateful  subjects  in  the  market- 
place of  Magnesia  (c.  xxxii.  2,  and  notes).  This  monu- 
ment was  a  statue  of  Themistocles,  of  noble  form  and  heroic 
character,  represented  as  standing  before  a  blazing  altar  with 
a  sacrificial  bowl,  from  which  he  is  pouring  onto  the  altar 
the  blood  from  a  slain  bull  (or  bison)  which  lies  dead  before 
him  with  outstretched  head.  So  much  is  gathered  from  a 

17 


258         NOTES  ON  THE   THEMIS TOCLES     [XXXI.  4- 

bronze  coin  of  Magnesia,  of  the  age  of  Antoninus  Pius,  by 
A.  Khousopoulos,  in  the  Athenische  Mittheilungen  for  1896, 
pp.  18-25.  The  further  conclusion  that  the  monument 
represented  Themistocles  in  the  act  of  sacrificing  before 
drinking  the  bull's  blood  with  suicidal  intent,  as  popular 
tradition  made  him  do,  is  not  warranted.  It  rather  repre- 
sented the  revered  governor  of  the  city  as  sacrificing  to 
Athena  or  Dionysus  when  he  solemnly  founded  for  his  city 
of  Magnesia  either  the  Panathenaica,  or  the  C%oes-day. 
Such  a  solemn  function  is  implied  by  the  testimony  of 
Possis  (see  the  note  on  xxxi.  2),  and  afforded  the  bereaved 
Magnesians  a  fitting  theme  for  the  commemoration  of  him 
who  had  enriched  their  city  with  the  choicest  importations 
of  Athenian  festival-rite.  The  statue,  misinterpreted  by  some 
one  not  resident  in  Magnesia,  ignorantly  or  purposely,  it 
matters  not  which,  gave  rise  to  the  absurd  and  incredible 
tale  of  drinking  the  bull's  blood,  which  soon  became  the 
"  current  story,"  of  Themistocles'  death.  Aristophanes,  in  the 
Knights,  treats  it  humorously ;  Thucydides  rejects  it  utterly. 

XXXII.  1.  For  these  family  items  Plutarch  must  have 
had  the  traditions  of  the  family  itself,  freely  given  him  by 
his  intimate  friend  Themistocles  (§4).  It  was  the  best 
evidence  attainable,  though,  like  all  family  traditions,  not 
exempt  from  error. 

Cleophantus:  an  inscription  of  Lampsacus  (Athenische 
Mittheilungen,  VI.,  1881,  pp.  103  ff.),  dating  from  the  close 
of  the  third  century  B.  c.,  proves  that  Cleophantus  settled 
there,  and  that  down  even  to  that  late  date  a  festival  was 
celebrated  annually  in  memory  of  Themistocles,  in  which 
all  citizens  took  part,  and  at  which  the  descendants  of  Cleo- 
phantus had  certain  special  rights  and  privileges.  It  was 
no  strange  custom.  The  elder  Miltiades  was  so  honored 
(Herod.,  vi.  38),  and  Brasidas  (Thucyd.,  v.  11). 

Plato  mentions,  etc. :  in  the  Meno,  p.  93.  The  argument 
is  on  the  question  whether  virtue  can  be  taught,  since,  as 
has  been  agreed,  virtue  is  knowledge.  Socrates  points  out 
that  the  great  and  good  statesmen  of  Athens,  Themisto- 


BRONZE  OF  MAGNESIA,  COINAGE  OF  ANTONINUS 
PIUS  (OBVERSE),  WITH  STATUE  OF  THEMISTO- 
CLES  (REVERSE). 


-XXXII.  2]     NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES        259 

cles,  Aristides,  Pericles  and  Thucydides,  son  of  Melesias 
did  not  succeed  in  making  their  sons  acquire  their  virtue, 
though  they  must  have  wished  to  do  so.  "  Did  you  never 
hear  that  Themistocles  made  Cleophantus,  who  was  his  son, 
a  famous  horseman  ?  —  he  would  stand  upright  on  horse- 
back and  hurl  a  javelin ;  and  many  other  marvellous  things 
he  could  do  which  his  father  had  him  taught ;  and  in  any- 
thing which  the  skill  of  a  master  could  teach  him  he  was 
well  trained.  But  did  any  one,  old  or  young,  ever  say  in 
your  hearing  that  Cleophantus,  son  of  Themistocles,  was  a 
wise  or  good  man,  as  his  father  was  ? " 

Mnesiptolema :  heroine  of  the  dream-tale  in  c.  TTXX. 

XXXII.  2.  Tomb  of  Themistocles :  Plutarch  uses  the 
word  "tomb"  carelessly  here.  It  was  a  monument  which 
the  Magnesians  erected  to  Themistocles  in  their  market- 
place, —  his  tomb  was  outside  the  city.  "  There  is  a  monu- 
ment of  him  in  the  agora  of  the  Asiatic  Magnesia,  where 
he  was  governor.  .  .  .  His  family  say  that  his  remains  were 
carried  home  at  his  own  request  and  buried  in  Attica,  but 
secretly;  for  he  had  been  accused  of  treason  and  had  fled 
from  his  country,  and  he  could  not  lawfully  be  interred 
there"  (Thucydides,  i.  138,  5,  6).  Diodorus  Siculus  says 
(xi.  58,  1):  "So  then  Themistocles,  free  from  fear  of  the 
Hellenes,  and,  strangely  enough,  exiled  by  those  whom  he 
had  most  highly  benefited,  but  benefited  by  those  whom  he 
had  most  grievously  injured,  spent  the  rest  of  his  days  in 
these  cities  which  the  King  had  given  him,  richly  supplied 
with  all  that  could  make  life  pleasant,  and  at  his  death  he 
received  a  memorable  burial  in  Magnesia,  and  a  monument, 
which  is  still  standing  in  my  day."  So  Nepos  (Themistocles, 
x.  3),  more  definitely  still :  "  huius  ad  nostram  memoriam 
monumenta  manserunt  duo :  sepulchrum  prope  oppidum,  in 
quo  est  sepultus;  statua  in  foro  Magnesise."  The  case  of 
Brasidas  in  Thucydides,  v.  11,  1,  affords  a  striking  parallel. 
This  able  Spartan  had  saved  Amphipolis  from  Athenian 
attacks  at  the  cost  of  his  own  life.  "  Brasidas  was  buried 
in  the  city  with  public  honors  in  front  of  what  is  now  the 


260        NOTES  ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES     [XXXII.  2- 

Agora.  The  whole  body  of  the  allies  in  military  array  fol- 
lowed him  to  the  grave.  The  Amphipolitans  enclosed  his 
sepulchre,  and  to  this  day  they  sacrifice  to  him  as  to  a  hero, 
and  also  celebrate  games  and  yearly  offerings  in  his  honor." 

In  all  probability  Themistocles  was  in  like  manner 
honored  as  a  hero  at  Magnesia  by  annual  sacrifices  and 
games  (see  §4).  Even  at  Lampsacus,  which  was  not  so 
closely  bound  to  him  as  Magnesia,  such  a  festival  was  held 
in  his  honor  (see  the  note  on  "  Cleophantus,"  in  §  1). 

Andocides :  see  the  Introduction,  p.  37,  and  the  note  on 
"  as  Theopompus  relates,"  xix.  1. 

Address  to  his  Associates :  i.  e.  of  the  oligarchical  clubs, 
which  were  secretly  plotting  for  the  overthrow  of  the  democ- 
racy (see  the  note  on  Aristides,  ii.  4).  This  work  of  An- 
docides is  mentioned  only  here,  and  is  of  uncertain  date, 
between  the  limits  420-410  B.  c.,  but  is  in  any  case  earlier 
than  the  words  of  Thucydides  cited  above. 

Phylarchus :  see  the  Introduction,  p.  44,  and  the  note  on 
"  Demaratus,"  xxix.  3. 

A  certain  Neocles,  forsooth :  who  died  when  a  boy  (§  1), 
and  could  not  therefore  have  figured  at  any  maltreatment  of 
his  father's  remains. 

A  theatrical  machine :  for  bringing  into  the  scene  gods 
and  heroic  personages.  Cf.  c.  x.  1. 

XXXII.  3.  Diodorus  the  Topographer :  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  Diodorus  Siculus.  See  the  Introduction, 
p.  40. 

A  sort  of  elbow  .  .  .  opposite  Alcimus:  this  can  only 
mean  what  was  called  Eetioneia,  or  the  narrow  tongue  of 
land  which  projected  into  the  sea  on  the  northern  shore  of 
the  harbor,  and  toward  which  the  headland  called  Alcimus 
projected  from  the  opposite  or  southern  shore,  both  of  them 
being  prolonged  by  moles.  M  This  Ee'tioneia  is  the  mole  of 
the  Piraeus,  and  forms  one  side  of  the  entrance"  (Thucyd., 
viii.  90,  4). 

Inasmuch  as  the  remains  of  Themistocles  were  either  not 
buried  in  Attica  at  all,  or  buried  secretly,  various  traditions 


-XXXII.  3]     NOTES   ON  THE    THEMISTOCLES        261 

arose  assigning  them  to  various  localities.  Pausanias,  writ- 
ing not  long  after  Plutarch,  in  describing  the  Piraeus,  says : 
"And  there  were  ship-sheds  there  down  to  my  time;  and 
beside  the  largest  harbor  is  the  grave  of  Themistocles.  For 
they  say  that  the  Athenians  repented  of  what  they  had  done 
to  Themistocles,  and  that  his  kinsmen  took  up  his  bones  and 
brought  them  from  Magnesia.  Certain  it  is  that  the  sons  of 
Themistocles  not  only  returned  from  exile,  but  dedicated  in 
the  Parthenon  a  picture  containing  a  portrait  of  Themis- 
tocles "  (i.  1,  2).  With  this  may  be  joined  another  state- 
ment of  Pausanias  (i.  26,  4) :  "  Near  the  statue  of  Olympio- 
dorus  "  (on  the  Acropolis)  "  stands  a  bronze  image  of  Artemis 
surnamed  Leucophryenian.  It  was  dedicated  by  the  sons  of 
Themistocles ;  for  the  Magnesians,  whom  the  King  gave  to 
Themistocles  to  govern,  hold  Leucophryenian  Artemis  in 
honor."  Add  also  his  statement  (i.  18,  3)  that  statues  of 
Miltiades  and  Themistocles  stood  in  the  Prytaneium  of 
Athens. 

The  sons  of  Themistocles,  then,  would  seem  to  have  been 
restored  to  their  Athenian  privileges,  but  there  is  no  good 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  bones  of  their  father  were  ever 
brought  home,  although  belief  in  his  treason  died  out. 

Nevertheless,  tradition  fixed  upon  still  another  spot  as  his 
Attic  tomb,  namely,  "  on  the  shore  of  the  Acte  peninsula  " 
(from  which  Alcimus  juts  out), "  near  the  modern  lighthouse, 
some  way  to  the  south  of  the  entrance  to  the  great  harbor. 
A  square  space,  measuring  about  nineteen  feet  on  the  sides, 
has  been  levelled  in  the  rock  ;  and  its  outer  margin  has  been 
cut  and  smoothed  to  a  breadth  of  two  and  one  half  feet, 
apparently  to  form  the  bed  of  a  wall  Within  this  square 
space  are  three  graves,  a  large  one  and  two  small  ones ;  and 
just  outside  it,  on  the  side  away  from  the  sea,  is  a  large  sep- 
ulchre hewn  in  the  rock "  (Frazer,  on  Pausanias,  i.  1,  2). 
The  identification  of  this  place  with  that  described  by  Dio- 
dorus  the  Topographer,  however,  is,  in  spite  of  the  authority 
of  Milchhofer,  improbable.  Diodorus  evidently  describes 
a  monument  inside  the  harbor. 


262        NOTES  ON  THE   THEMISTOCLES     [XXXII.  s. 

The  modern  name  for  the  harbor  of  Piraeus  in  1835, 
when  Athens  was  made  capital  of  the  modern  kingdom,  was 
Porto  Leone,  from  a  colossal  lion  of  white  marble  which  the 
Venetians  carried  away  from  Alcimus  in  1687,  and  which 
now  stands  in  front  of  the  Arsenal  in  Venice.  The  prom- 
ontory of  Alcimus  is  thought  to  have  been  named  from  this 
lion. 

The  comic  poet  Plato :  one  of  the  prominent  poets  of  the 
Old  Athenian  Comedy,  who  flourished  from  428  to  389  B.  c. 
See  the  Introduction,  p.  35.  It  cannot  be  known  with  what  jus- 
tice Diodorus  assumes  that  these  verses  of  Plato  refer  to  the 
tomb  of  Themistocles.  Plutarch  is  careful  to  call  this  identi- 
fication of  the  "  altar-like  structure  "  inside  the  harbor  with 
the  tomb  of  Themistocles  a  mere  conjecture. 

Racing  ships:  "Boat-races  seem  to  have  been  not  uncom- 
mon in  antiquity.  They  were  held  at  Sunium;  and  Attic 
inscriptions  show  that  boat-races  formed  part  of  the  regu- 
lar training  of  the  Athenian  lads;  they  raced  in  sacred 
vessels  round  the  peninsula  of  Piraeus  to  the  harbor  of 
Munychia  "  (Frazer,  on  Pausanias,  ii.  35,  1). 

In  the  school  of  Ammonius :  i.  e.  the  Academy,  of  which 
Ammonius  was  the  head.  He  is  known  to  us  only  through 
the  writings  of  his  pupil,  Plutarch,  and  is  "  the  oldest  known 
representative  of  that  religious  and  mystical  phase  of  Plato- 
nism  which  became  prevalent  in  the  second  century  A.  D."  In 
many  of  the  dialogues  of  Plutarch,  Ammonius  is  made  the 
writer's  spokesman. 


NOTES  ON  THE   ARISTIDES 


NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES 

I.  1.  Tribe,  deme:  see  the  note  on  "A  Phrearrhian  by 
deme,"  Themistocles,  i.  1. 

Demetrius  of  Phalerum :  see  the  Introduction,  p.  58. 
Phalerum  is  here  the  deme,  and  not  the  harbor  of  that 
name. 

I.  2.  Archon  Eponymous :  the  college  of  nine  archons, 
elected  annually,  consisted  of  (a)  the  Archon  Eponymous,  by 
whose  name  the  year  was  called,  and  who  served  as  minister 
of  justice ;  (b)  the  Archon  Basileus,  or  King  Archon,  who 
served  as  minister  of  religion;  (c)  the  Archon  Polemarch, 
once  minister  of  war  and  commander-in-chief,  but  largely 
superseded  early  in  the  fifth  century  by  the  ten  Generals; 
and  (d)  the  six  Archons  Thesmothetce,  or  legislators,  —  keepers 
of  the  codes  of  law.  The  archons  were  originally  nominated 
by  the  Council  of  the  Areiopagus ;  then  they  were  elected  by 
the  general  assembly  of  the  people;  under  Solon  (594  B.C.), 
they  were  appointed  by  lot  from  forty  candidates  selected  by 
the  four  tribes;  under  Cleisthenes  (508  B.C.),  and  down  to 
487  B.  c.,  they  were  elected  by  the  general  assembly  of  the 
people  again;  from  487  B.C.,  they  were  appointed  by  lot 
again,  from  one  hundred  or  five  hundred  candidates  selected 
by  the  ten  tribes.  See  Sandys  on  Aristotle,  Constitution  of 
Athens,  xxii.  5.  If,  then,  Aristides  was  archon  in  489  B.  c., 
he  was  chosen  by  open  voting,  without  any  application  of  the 
lot.  An  Aristides  was  archon  in  489  B.  c.  (see  v.  5),  but  it 
is  not  absolutely  certain  that  this  was  the  son  of  Lysimachus. 
Even  if  it  was,  it  is  not  likely  that  open  voting  would  have 
put  any  one  into  this  highest  office  who  did  not  belong  to 
the  first  of  Solon's  political  classes.  This  need  not  imply 
great  wealth,  but  it  shuts  out  extreme  poverty,  which  it  is 


266  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [La- 

the object  of  romantic  tradition  to  fix  upon  Aristides,  that  he 
may  contrast  the  more  effectively  with  Themistocles,  whose 
wealth  was  for  the  same  reason  exaggerated  See  the  note 
on  Themistocles,  xxv.  3. 

Five-hundred-bushelers :  i.  e.  those  whose  annual  income 
from  their  land-holdings  was  equivalent  to  five  hundred 
"medimni"  of  grain,  or  five  hundred  drachmas  of  silver, 
not  more  than  $500,  counting  the  drachma  as  equiva- 
lent to  the  French  franc,  and  the  purchasing  power  of 
money  five  times  what  it  is  now. 

The  other  three  classes  which  Solon  used  as  the  basis 
for  political  distinctions  were :  the  Knights,  with  an 
annual  income  from  their  land  worth  at  least  three  hun- 
dred "medimni;"  the  Zeugitce,  with  two  hundred;  and 
the  Thetes,  who  owned  no  land  at  all.  The  first  class 
alone  were  eligible  (under  the  Solonian  constitution)  to 
the  chief  offices,  the  second  and  third  to  minor  offices,  the 
fourth  to  none  at  alL  Some  time  between  Cleisthenes 
(508  B.  c.)  and  457-6  B.  c.,  the  second  class  of  land-holders 
became  eligible  for  the  archonship,  and  in  the  latter  year 
the  third  class  (Aristotle,  Const,  of  Athens,  xxvi  2).  It 
is  probable  that  wealthy  or  influential  "  Thetes "  also, 
even  earlier  than  this,  were  allowed  to  be  chosen  to  the 
office. 

Ostracism:  see  the  notes  on  Themistocles,  v.  5  and 
xxii.  2. 

Offerings  for  victory  in  choral  contests :  see  the  note  on 
Themistocles,  v.  4.  The  choregus  of  a  victorious  chorus  was 
privileged  to  erect  in  the  precinct  of  Dionysus  the  bronze 
tripod  which  he  won  as  his  prize.  The  tripod,  in  later  and 
more  luxurious  times,  was  usually  set  up  on  a  column  or 
miniature  temple,  and  on  this  latter,  not  on  the  tripod  itself, 
the  inscription  was  brought.  The  "  Street  of  the  Tripods  "  at 
Athens  led  from  the  prytaneium  up  to  the  entrance  of  the 
theatre,  and  was  lined  with  these  monuments.  See  Har- 
rison and  Verrall,  Mythology  and  Monuments  of  Athens, 
pp.  241-253,  where  the  extant  "  choragic  monument  of 


-1.4]  NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  267 

Lysicrates,"  i.  e.  the  shrine  which  once  supported  the 
tripod,  is  fully  described.  See  also  Frazer's  notes  on 
Pausanias,  i.  20. 

I.  3.  This  argument  ...  is  -weak :  Plutarch  argues  that 
Aristides  might  have  received  the  money  necessary  to  equip 
his  victorious  chorus  from  some  friend,  as  Epaminondas  and 
Plato  did.  He  is  bent  on  having  Aristides  poor,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  popular  tradition  which  Demetrius  success- 
fully combats. 

Epaminondas :  the  founder  of  the  Theban  supremacy,  by 
his  victory  over  Sparta  at  Leuctra  in  371  B.  c.,  whom  Cicero 
called  "  princeps  Graecise."  The  attitude  of  cultured  Roman 
society  toward  Epaminondas  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that 
Hadrian  erected  a  stele  at  his  grave  and  composed  an  inscrip- 
tion for  it  {Pausanias,  viii.  11,  8).  See  the  note  on  The- 
mistocles,  i.  1,  at  the  beginning. 

Men  trained  to  play  the  flute :  the  national  art  of  the 
Boeotians,  but  not  much  affected  by  the  Athenians,  for 
"  Athene  flung  away  the  flute,  while  Apollo  flayed  alive 
the  flute-player."  See  Roberts,  Ancient  Boeotians,  pp.  32-35. 

Boys  trained  to  sing  and  dance:  i.  e.  in  the  "  dithyramb," 
the  lyric  style  especially  cultivated  at  Athens,  the  Dionysiac 
hymn  out  of  which  the  drama  was  evolved. 

Dion  of  Syracuse:  ol.  353  B.C.,  after  having  become 
master  of  the  city  over  which  his  father-in-law,  Dionysius  I., 
and  his  nephew,  Dionysius  II.,  had  been  tyrants.  He  was 
visited  by,  and  visited  Plato,  whom  he  ardently  admired. 
Plutarch  probably  wrote  his  Dion  and  Brutus  shortly  after 
his  Aristides  and  Cato.  See  the  Introduction,  p.  9. 

Pelopidas :  of  Thebes,  commander  of  the  "  Sacred  Band," 
colleague  and  bosom  friend  of  Epaminondas,  whose  heredi- 
tary poverty  he  tried  to  aid  with  his  own  inherited  wealth. 
See  Plutarch's  Pelopidas,  which  was  written  between  the 
Themistocles  and  the  Aristides. 

I.  4.   Pansetius :  see  the  Introduction,  p.  59. 

The  son  of  Xenophilus :  the  epigram  celebrating  this 
victory,  won  in  477  B.  c.,  when  Adeimantus  was  archon, 


268  NOTES   ON  THE  ARTS  TIDES  [1.4- 

and  Simonides  was  poet,  in  his  eighteenth  year,  is  pre- 
served (Bergk,  Poet.  Lyr.  Greed,  iii.  p.  496). 

The  inscription  itself :  the  one  cited  above  in  §  2. 

The  character  used  after  Eucleides :  in  the  archonship  of 
Eucleides  (403),  a  new  alphabet  was  officially  introduced  at 
Athens,  "  that  with  which  we  are  most  familiar,  the  alphabet 
first  adopted  by  the  lonians  of  Asia  Minor.  It  was  ordained 
that  in  future  all  public  acts  should  be  written  in  the  Ionic 
characters,  which  indeed  had  been  in  literary  and  private 
use  in  Attica,  and  also  in  public  use  elsewhere,  for  some 
time  previously  "  (Koberts,  Introduction  to  Greek  Epigraphy , 
p.  1). 

I.  5.  This  argument  of  Panaetius :  it  is  sound  and  con- 
vincing, and  successfully  disposes  of  the  third  point  in 
Demetrius'  argument  against  the  poverty  of  Aristides, 
though  Plutarch  withholds  his  opinion  upon  it.  It  favors, 
too,  Plutarch's  side  of  the  question.  The  other  two  points 
in  the  argument  of  Demetrius  are  not  affected. 

Damon,  the  teacher  of  Pericles:  in  his  Pericles  (c.  iv. 
2),  Plutarch  had  already  spoken  of  Damon  as  one  who  made 
his  profession  of  "  music  "  a  cover  for  political  intrigues  with 
Pericles.  "  He  was  banished  the  country  by  ostracism  for 
ten  years,  as  a  dangerous  intermeddler  and  a  favorer  of 
arbitrary  power."  Aristotle's  Constitution  of  Athens  (c. 
xxvii.  4)  speaks  of  a  Damonides  who  had  the  credit  of 
originating  most  of  the  innovations  of  Pericles  (as  Plutarch 
also  says,  Pericles,  ix  2),  and  who  was  ostracized  on  that 
account.  It  has  been  suggested  that  Plutarch  confounds 
Damon  the  musician  and  Damonides  the  politician,  and 
transfers  to  the  former  some  of  the  attributes  of  the  latter. 
See  Sandys,  on  Aristotle,  ad  loc.  Of  Damon  the  musician 
Plato  often  speaks  with  the  greatest  respect.  It  is  at  any 
rate  certain  that  Plutarch  misrepresents  here  the  institution 
of  ostracism  (see  the  note  on  Themistocles,  yyii-  2),  though 
his  argument  is  sound  that  ostracism  need  not  imply  that 
the  banished  man  was  wealthy. 

Idomeneus:  see  the  Introduction,  p.  42. 


-II.  i]  NOTES   ON  THE  ARIS  TIDES  269 

By  election :  the  practice  in  489-8  B.  c.,  the  year  after 
the  battle  of  Platsea.  See  above  on  §  2.  It  is  barely  pos- 
sible, though  not  probable,  that  the  property-qualifications 
of  the  Solonian  census  were  not  in  force  when  the  election 
was  thus  free,  and  therefore  that  Aristides,  even  though 
Archon  Eponymous,  was  not  a  "  Five-hundred-busheler." 
At  any  rate,  that  is  the  inference  of  Plutarch,  who  must 
have  Aristides  as  poor  as  he  was  just. 

But  also  Socrates :  the  context  makes  it  clear  how  Deme- 
trius, in  his  "  Socrates,"  came  to  speak  of  the  poverty  of 
Aristides. 

Seventy  minse :  the  mina  was  one  hundred  drachmas, 
and  sixty  mince  made  a  talent.  A  sum  of  about  $1400,  or 
£280,  is  here  meant.  According  to  Xenophon,  the  pupil  of 
Socrates  (GEconomicus,  ii.  3),  Socrates  had  a  property  of  only 
five  mince,  including  his  house.  "  If  I  could  find  a  good 
purchaser"  (Socrates  replies),  "I  suppose  the  whole  of  my 
effects,  including  the  house  in  which  I  live,  might  very  fairly 
realize  five  mince"  Plato,  another  pupil,  makes  Socrates 
say,  when  called  upon  to  fix  a  counter-penalty  to  that  of 
death  (Apology,  p.  38  A) :  "  Had  I  money  I  might  have  esti- 
mated the  offence  at  what  I  was  able  to  pay,  and  have  been 
none  the  worse.  But  you  see  that  I  have  none,  and  I  can 
only  ask  you  to  proportion  the  fine  to  my  means.  However, 
I  think  that  I  could  afford  a  mina,  and  therefore  I  propose 
that  penalty :  Plato,  Crito,  Critobulus,  and  Apollodorus,  my 
friends  here,  bid  me  say  thirty  mince,  and  they  will  be  the 
sureties.  Well,  then,  say  thirty  mince,  let  that  be  the  pen- 
alty ;  and  for  that  sum  they  will  be  ample  security  to 
you." 

II.  1.  Cleisthenes:  see  the  note  on  "  A  Phrearrhian  by 
deme,"  Themistocles,  i  1.  Such  a  friendship  with  Cleisthenes 
would  not  argue  aristocratic  leanings  in  Aristides,  rather  the 
contrary.  In  fact,  Aristides  was  simply  less  democratic  than 
Themistocles,  or  better,  democratic  in  a  different  way.  The 
constant  contrast  of  his  character  to  that  of  Themistocles  has 
led  to  this  mistaken  contrast  in  political  principles.  The 


270  NOTES  ON  THE  AXIS  TIDES  [II  i- 

contrast  was  in  method,  not  in  principle.  See  Holm,  His- 
tory of  Greece,  iL  pp.  37  f.,  and  Botsford,  History  of  Greece, 
pp.  124  f. 

Lycurgus :  the  mythical  author  of  the  Spartan  laws  and 
institutions.  Of  a  real  Lycurgus  we  know  next  to  nothing. 
"  There  is  so  much  uncertainty  in  the  accounts  which  his- 
torians have  left  us  of  Lycurgus,  the  lawgiver  of  Sparta,  that 
scarcely  anything  is  asserted  by  one  of  them  which  is  not 
called  into  question  or  contradicted  by  the  rest "  (Plutarch, 
Lycurgus,  i).  Plutarch's  Lycurgus  also  was  composed 
between  his  Themistocles  and  Aristides. 

II.  2.   Compare  Themistocles,  iii  1,2. 

II.  4.   A  society  of  political  friends:   a   political   club, 
like  that  to  which  Andocides  issued  his  "  Address  "  (Themis- 
tocles, xxxii  2).     These  political  clubs  were  usually  aristo- 
cratic in  their  sympathies,  and  played  a  prominent  part  in 
the  oligarchical  revolution  of  411  B.  c.     They  seem  not  to 
have  been  prominent  at  Athens  till  after  the  death  of  Peri- 
cles (428  B.  c.).     "  Party  associations,"  says  Thucydides  (iii 
82,  6)  of  such  clubs,  "  are  not  based  upon  any  established 
law,  nor  do  they  seek  the  public  good ;  they  are  formed  in 
defiance  of  the  laws  and  from  self-interest." 

"Never  may  I  sit  on  a  tribunal,"  etc.:  a  story  which 
proves  a  disposition  exactly  opposite  to  that  denoted  by  the 
stories  of  his  impartiality  in  Themistocles,  v.  4.  Here  an 
effective  contrast  to  Aristides  is  desired. 

III.  1.   A  reckless  agitator :  far  different  from  the  tone 
of   Themistocles,  iii,  where  Themistocles  is  the  subject   of 
biography.      And  to  have   Aristides   oppose    Themistocles 
"  even  against  his  real  convictions  "  of  what  was  good  for  the 
state,  merely  to  thwart  a  political  foe,  is  dubious  praise. 

Even  against  his  real  convictions :  the  phrase  is  added 
after  the  best  manuscript,  though  not  in  the  Sintenis 
(Teubner)  or  Bekker  (Tauchnitz)  texts.  It  strengthens, 
but  does  not  alter  the  line  of  thought. 

III.  2.  The  barathrum :  a  cleft  in  the  rocks  in  the  "  ward  " 
Ceiriadae,  just  west  of  Melite*  (see  the  note  on  Themistocles, 


-IV.  2]  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  271 

xxii.  1),  into  which  the  bodies  of   criminals  and  suicides 
were  cast. 

III.  3.   As  the  story  goes :  a  story  it  is,  and  a  late  one, 
at  least  later  than  the  time  (467  B.  c.)  when  the  play  was 
given,  and  Aristides  might  possibly  have  heard  it.     The  play 
was  the  "  Seven  against  Thebes,"  and  the  messenger  is  de- 
scribing to  Eteocles,  king  of  Thebes,  the   only   righteous 
warrior  among   the  seven    champions   attacking    the    city 
(verses  592  ff.).     The  story,  however,  has  substituted  "just " 
for  the   "best"   of   ^Eschylus   (Sfaaios   for   apiaro?).     The 
epithet  of  "  The  Just "  was  not  fixed  on  Aristides   during 
his  lifetime.     Elsewhere  (Morals,  p.  32  D  =  Quomodo  ado- 
lescens  poetas  audire  debeat,  xi.),  where  the  context  demands 
it,  Plutarch  cites  these  verses  correctly.     A  good  story  mocks 
at  manuscript  readings. 

IV.  1.   A  story  is  told:  the  story,  and  the  three  which 
follow  it  as  well,  are  of  late  manufacture,  and  are  now  found 
only  here.     Plutarch  probably  found  them  in  Idomeneus. 

As  private  arbitrator:  Themistocles  also,  it  will  be 
remembered,  was  famous  and  popular  as  a  private  arbitrator 
(Themistocles,  v.  4). 

IV.  2.  Overseer  of  the  public  revenues:  there  was  no 
such  office  in  the  fifth  century  B.  c.,  nor  in  the  fourth  until 
about  338,  when  a  "  minister  of  finance  "  was  created  to  have 
general  supervision  of  the  public  income  and  expenditure. 
See  Gardner  and  Jevons,  Greek  Antiquities,  p.  475. 

His  f  ellow-officials :  here  the  story-teller  is  probably  think- 
ing of  the  various  boards  which  dealt  with  the  public  finances 
in  the  time  of  Aristides  (Gardner  and  Jevons,  ibid.,  p.  474). 

"The  man  was  clever,"  etc.:  this  iambic  trimeter  is  of 
unknown  origin.  It  probably  described  a  man  who  lost  con- 
trol of  himself  in  fighting. 

The  auditing  of  his  accounts :  "  Every  magistrate,  within 
a  certain  period  from  the  end  of  his  term  of  office,  had  to 
hand  in  to  the  logistce  either  an  account  of  all  money  received 
and  paid  by  him,  or  a  statement  that  he  had  received  no 
money  "  (Gardner  and  Jevons,  ibid.,  p.  466). 


272  NOTES  ON  THE  ARTS 'TIDES  [IV.  2- 

Aocording  to  Idomeneus :  see  the  Introduction,  p.  42. 
It  is  apparently  the  startling  character  of  the  testimony  that 
leads  to  the  mention  of  the  authority  by  name. 

IV.  4.   My  present  honor  .  .  .  former   condemnation: 
the   point   of  the  whole  story  lies  in  the  assumption  that 
the  office  was  an  annual  one,  and  that  the  official    could 
be  reflected.     Even  when  such  an  office  was  created,  at  the 
close  of  the  fourth  century  B.  c.,  it  was  for  a  period  of  four 
years,  and  the  official  was  not  eligible  for  reelection. 

V.  This  chapter  rapidly  summarizes  what  may  be  found  at 
great  length  in  the  standard  story  of  Marathon  by  Herodotus 
(vi.   94-120).     But  there  are    startling  divergencies    from 
Herodotus.     His  long  and  graphic  story  makes  no  mention 
either  of  Aristides  or  Themistocles.     It  is  clear  that  when 
he  wrote   (circa   430   B.C.),  popular  tradition  had  not  yet 
singled  out  either  one  of  them,  from  the  Athenians  who 
took  the  field,  for  individual  mention.     Herodotus  mentions 
by  name  only  two  of  the  ten  generals,  Miltiades  and  Stes- 
ilaiis;   the  polemarch  Callimachus;   Cynegeirus  son  of  Eu- 
phorion,  who,  "having  seized  on  a  vessel  of  the   enemy's 
by  the  ornament  at  the  stern,  had  his  hand  cut  off  by  the 

'blow  of  an  axe,  and  so  perished;"  and  Epizelus,  son  of 
Couphagoras,  who  was  smitten  with  blindness  during  the 
battle. 

But  after  Themistocles  and  Aristides  had  won  fame  at 
Salamis,  popular  tradition  or  rhetorical  historians  or  story- 
makers  insisted  on  supplying  details  of  their  participation  in 
the  battle  of  Marathon  also.  Both  may  have  been  there; 
Aristides,  who  was  perhaps  the  older  man,  probably  was  there ; 
and  there  is  nothing  absolutely  improbable  in  having  him 
one  of  the  ten  generals,  though  there  is  no  authority  for  it 
except  this  passage.  Nepos,  who  used  Ephorus  freely  (see 
the  Introduction,  p.  20),  has  no  Marathonian  details  in  his 
Themistocles  and  Aristides,  and  we  may  infer,  therefore,  that 
these  details  were  later  than  Ephorus.  We  find  them,  at 
any  rate,  only  in  Plutarch. 

It   is,  however,  exceedingly  improbable   that   Aristides 


-V.2]  NOTES   ON   THE  ARISTIDES  273 

played  the  r6le  ascribed  by  Herodotus  to  Callimachus  the 
polemarch  in  inducing  the  other  generals  to  unite  in  voting 
to  give  battle,  as  Miltiades  and  four  of  his  fellow  generals 
desired ;  or  that  he  was  mainly  instrumental  in  getting  the 
sole  conduct  of  the  battle  into  the  hands  of  Miltiades. 
Whether  it  was  Plutarch,  or  the  authority  whom  he  is  here 
following  who  thus  glorifies  Aristides  at  the  expense  of  his 
fellow  generals  and  of  Callimachus,  can  never  be  deter- 
mined, and  is  of  little  moment.  Plutarch  becomes  sponsor 
for  the  perversion  of  history. 

V.  1.  The  ten  generals :  one  from  each  of  the  ten  tribes, 
and  each  commanding  his  own  tribe. 

Miltiades:  the  hero  of  Marathon,  as  Themistocles  of 
Salamis.  He  was  a  man  who  already  had  much  experience 
in  war  and  government.  His  story  is  told  in  Herodotus, 
vi  34-41,  103,  104,  132-7. 

V.  2.  The  Athenian  centre  was  the  hardest  pressed : 
it  is  clear  from  the  Herodotean  account  of  the  battle  that  the 
Athenian  centre,  over  against  the  Persians  and  the  Sacae,  was 
broken  and  put  to  flight.  Here  "the  Barbarians  were 
victorious,  and  broke  and  pursued  the  Greeks  into  the  inner 
country;  but  on  the  two  wings  the  Athenians  and  the 
Platseans  defeated  the  enemy.  Having  so  done,  they  suffered 
'the  routed  Barbarians  to  fly  at  their  ease,  and  joining  the  two 
wings  in  one,  fell  upon  those  who  had  broken  their  own 
centre  and  fought  and  conquered  them.  These  likewise  fled, 
and  now  the  Athenians  hung  upon  the  runaways  and  cut 
them  down,  chasing  them  all  the  way  to  the  shore,  on  reach- 
ing which  they  laid  hold  of  the  ships  and  called  aloud  for 
fire"  (vi.  113).  Whether  this  was  planned  by  Miltiades,  or 
unforeseen,  is  disputed.  It  looks  like  a  masterly  stratagem. 
But,  stratagem  or  accident,  it  finds  no  place  in  Plutarch's 
story,  which  is  bent  only  on  bringing  Themistocles  and 
Aristides  side  by  side  in  the  battle. 

The  tribes  Leontis  and  Antiochis  :  the  official  order  of 
the  ten  tribes,  originally  determined  by  certain  religious 
connections  of  their  heroic  founders  with  the  successive  tenths 

18 


274  NOTES  ON  THE  AEISTIDES  [V.2- 

of  the  year,  was  as  given  in  the  note  on  Themistocles,  L 1. 
According  to  this  order,  as  Herodotus  says  (vL  113),  the 
tribes  were  drawn  up  in  order  of  battle  at  Marathon.  The 
tribe  Antiochis  was  therefore  far  away  from  Leontis.  But 
the  story  is  a  good  one. 

The  Athenians  who  fell  in  the  battle  were  buried  in  a 
grave  in  the  plain,  "  and  over  it,"  says  Pausanias  (i.  32,  3), 
"are  tombstones  with  the  names  of  the  fallen  arranged 
according  to  tribes."  Men  of  the  same  tribe  fought,  fell,  and 
were  buried  together.  "  On  a  similar  principle  in  our  own 
country  and  time  the  system  has  been  adopted  of  recruiting 
the  line  regiments  from  special  districts  and  naming  them 
after  these  districts,  instead  of  recruiting  them  indifferently 
'from  all  districts  and  designating  them  by  numbers," 
(Frazer,  on  Pausanias,  ad  loc.). 

Under  compulsion  of  wind  and  wave:  according  to 
Herodotus  (c.  115),  the  Barbarians  "  pushed  off,  and  taking 
aboard  their  Eretrian  prisoners  from  the  island  where  they 
had  left  them,  doubled  Cape  Sunium,  hoping  to  reach  Athens 
before  the  return  of  the  Athenians." 

With  nine  tribes :  "  But  the  Athenians  with  all  possible 
speed  marched  away  to  the  defence  of  their  city  "  {Herod.,  c. 
116),  with  no  suggestion  of  a  detachment  left  behind,  or  of 
any  booty  for  it  to  guard.  Probably  the  impressions  of  the 
booty  won  at  Platsea  (479  B.  c.),  eleven  years  later,  tended  to 
cause  a  demand,  in  later  tradition,  for  booty  at  the  much 
more  meagre  victory  of  Marathon. 

V.  4.  Callias  the  Torch-bearer :  one  of  the  highest  officers 
at  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries  of  the  Eleusinian  Demeter. 
The  office  was  hereditary  in  the  family  of  Callias,  as  well  as 
great  wealth.  This  Callias  was  the  son  of  Phaenippus  and 
father  of  the  Hipponicus  mentioned  by  Herodotus  as  a 
wealthy  tyrant-hater  (vi.  121,  122).  His  grandson  Callias,  a 
step-son  of  Pericles,  was  one  of  the  richest  and  best-known 
men  of  Athens.  He  was  so  rich  that  the  comic  poets  called 
him  "  Pit-wealthy,"  i.  e.  rich  enough  to  fill  a  pit  or  cistern  with 
money.  The  epithet  may  also  have  played  on  the  fact  that 


-VI.  i]  NOTES   ON  THE  AEIS  TIDES  275 

the  owner  of  it  worked  the  silver  pits  or  mines  successfully. 
From  this  comic  epithet  the  story  told  in  this  paragraph 
arose.  It  is  not  found  earlier  than  Plutarch.  In  the  version 
of  the  story  given  in  the  lexicon  of  Suidas  (after  1000  B.C.) 
Salamis  takes  the  place  of  Marathon.  Plutarch's  story  may 
come  from  ^Eschines  the  Socratic's  dialogue  Callias,  which 
is  used  in  xxv.  4-6. 

V.  5.    The  office  of  Archon  Eponymous :  see  the  note 
on  i.  2. 

After  the  battle  of  Plataea :  for  the  year  479-8  B.  c. 

The  official  records  :  the  official  lists  of  Archons.  These 
were  accessible  to  Plutarch  in  some  one  or  all  of  the  Atthis- 
writers  whom  he  used.  See  the  Introduction,  pp.  41  i,  61. 

VI.  This   chapter  Plutarch   takes   from  no   one.     It  is 
clearly  one  of  his  own  original  contributions  to  the  biog- 
raphy, and  quite  in  the  vein  of  the  "  Morals." 

VI.  1.  A  man  of  the  people :  this  can  only  be  true  of  his 
democratic  leanings,  for  he  was  of  a  noble  family,  and  in 
league  with  nobles  as  against  the  parvenu  Themistocles.  See 
the  note  on  ii.  1.  The  tendency  of  tradition  has  undoubtedly 
been  to  emphasize  unduly  not  only  his  poverty,  but  also  his 
lowly  birth. 

"The  Just":  we  do  not  find  this  formal  epithet  given  to 
Aristides  until  the  latter  half  of  the  next  century  (the  ora- 
tions of  ^schines)  ;  but  Herodotus  lauds  his  justice  as  he 
introduces  him  into  his  story  (viii.  79) :  "  He  was  an 
Athenian,  and  had  been  ostracized  by  the  people,  and  I  judge, 
from  what  I  learn  of  him,  that  he  was  the  best  and  justest 
man  in  Athens."  The  contemporary  praise  of  Timocreon  of 
Ehodes  (Plutarch's  Themistocles,  xxi.  2)  calls  him  simply  the 
best  man  of  Athens.  Thucydides  mentions  him  only  twice  ; 
once  as  abetting  Themistocles  in  his  great  stratagem  to  de- 
ceive Sparta  concerning  the  fortifying  of  Athens  (L  91,  3), 
and  once  as  a  man  "  in  whose  time  "  the  tribute  to  be  paid 
by  the  cities  of  the  Delian  league  was  fixed :  "  the  said  cities 
shall  be  independent,  but  shall  pay  the  tribute  which  was 
fixed  in  the  time  of  Aristides  "  (v.  18,  5).  Plato  ( Gorgias, 


276  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [VI- 1- 

p.  526  A)  makes  Socrates  say  that  although  "  the  very  bad 
men  come  from  the  class  of  those  who  have  power,"  still,  "  in 
that  very  class  there  may  arise  good  men,  and  worthy  of  all 
admiration  they  are,  for  where  there  is  great  power  to  do 
wrong,  to  live  and  to  die  justly  is  a  hard  thing,  and  greatly 
to  be  praised,  and  few  there  are  who  attain  to  this.  Such 
good  and  true  men,  however,  there  have  been,  and  will  be 
again,  at  Athens  and  in  other  states,  who  have  performed 
the  work  committed  to  them  justly ;  and  there  is  one  who  is 
quite  famous  all  over  Hellas,  Aristides,  the  son  of  Lysi- 
machus."  But  from  other  passages  in  Plato  (see,  for  in- 
stance, the  citation  in  the  note  on  Themistocles,  xxxii.  1)  it 
is  clear  that  he  made  little  if  any  distinction  between 
Aristides  and  Themistocles. 

"  Besiegers  "  :  Demetrius  Poliorcetes,  son  of  Antigonus  the 
"  One-eyed,"  ob.  283  B.  c.  He  won  his  epithet  by  his  siege  of 
Rhodes  in  305-4  B.  c. 

"Thunderbolts":  Ptolemy  Ceraunus,  the  monster  son  of 
Ptolemy  I.  of  Egypt,  king  of  Macedonia  after  Demetrius 
Poliorcetes,  and  murderer  of  the  aged  Seleucus  I.,  his  friend 
and  patron.  He  was  slain  by  the  Gauls  in  280  B.  c. 

"Conquerors"  :  Seleucus  Nicator,  founderof  the  kingdom 
of  Syria,  murdered  by  Ptolemy  Ceraunus  in  280  B.  c.  He 
was  himself  one  of  the  murderers  of  Perdiccas,  the  "  Regent " 
of  Alexander,  in  321  B.C. 

"Eagles":  Pyrrhus  Aetos,  king  of  Epirus,  ob.  272  B.C., 
after  fruitless  attempts  to  conquer  the  West,  as  his  cousin 
Alexander  had  conquered  the  East. 

"  Hawks " :  Antiochus  ffierax,  younger  brother  of  Se- 
leucus II.  of  Syria,  on  whom  he  waged  rapacious  war  for 
the  possession  of  Asia  Minor.  But  he  was  driven  off  into 
Egypt  by  Attalus  I.  of  Pergamum,  and  was  there  ignomin- 
iously  slain  in  227  B.  c. 

Plutarch  is  evidently  fresh  from  reading  about  the 
"  Diadochi "  and  "  Epigoni,"  the  successors  and  followers  of 
Alexander.  He  has  already  used  much  of  the  material  thus 
gained  in  his  Aratus,  and  Philopcemen. 


-VII.  3]  NOTES  ON  THE  AEISTIDES  277 

VI.  2,  3.  A  choice  specimen  of  the  phraseology  of  the 
Epicurean  school  of  philosophy. 

VI.  2.   Fundamental  justice :  i.  e.  essential  virtue. 
Except  through  the   exercise  of  reasoning  powers: 

the  text  is  here  uncertain.  The  Sintenis  (Teubner)  and 
Bekker  (Tauchnitz)  texts  include  TO  Oeiov,  which  Blass 
would  omit.  Eetaining  these  words,  the  translation  would 
be: '"the  exercise  of  intelligent  reasoning  about  the  deity." 
The  Dryden-Clough  version  has :  "  except  by  means  of  reason 
and  the  knowledge  of  that  which  is  divine."  Earlier  trans- 
lations pervert  and  obscure  the  argument,  as  North's :  "  but 
as  for  justice  and  equity,  no  man  is  partaker  of  them,  save 
onely  God,  by  meanes  of  reason  and  understandinge  " ;  which 
follows  Amyot's  "  mais  de  justice,  droitture  &  equite*,  il  n'y  a 
rien  qui  en  puisse  estre  participiant,  sinon  ce  qui  est  divin, 
par  le  moyen  de  la  raison  &  de  1'entendement." 

VII.  1.   The  armed  body-guard :  the  phrase  reminds  one 
of  the   usurpation  of    Pisistratus,  as   Herodotus  tells   his 
story  (i.  59). 

VII.  2.  The  name  of  fear  of  tyranny:  Plutarch  con- 
stantly ignores  the  political  significance  of  the  ostracism. 
See  the  note  on  Themistocles,  xxii.  2. 

VII.  3.  Hyperbolus:  assassinated  by  the  Samian  olig- 
archs in  411  B.  c.  "  There  was  a  certain  Hyperbolus,  an 
Athenian  of  no  character,  who,  not  for  any  fear  of  his  power 
and  influence,  but  for  his  villainy,  and  because  the  city  was 
ashamed  of  him,  had  been  ostracized.  This  man  was  assas- 
sinated by  them  "  (Thucydides,  viii  73,  3.).  The  ostracism 
occurred  about  six  years  before  the  assassination,  and  is 
described  again  by  Plutarch  in  his  Nicias,  xi.,  and  Alcibiades, 
xiii.  Both  these  Lives  were  written  after  the  Aristides. 

Alcibiades,  Nicias :  these  two  men,  representing  respect- 
ively Young  and  Old  Athens  in  their  attitudes  toward  the 
fatal  Sicilian  expedition,  are  vividly  portrayed  for  us  in 
Thucydides,  vi.  8-26.  "  To  tell  the  simple  truth,"  says 
Plutarch  (Nicias,  xi.  3),  "it  was  a  struggle  between  the 
young  men  who  wanted  war,  and  the  older  men  who  wanted 


278  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [VII.  3- 

peace;  one  party  proposed  to  ostracize  Nicias,  the  other 
Alcibiades." 

VII.  4.  Ostrakon:  several  such  potsherds,  with  names 
inscribed  upon  them,  have  been  found.  One  is  represented 
at  p.  104.  It  was  used  either  at  the  ostracism  of  Aristides, 
of  which  Plutarch  is  now  speaking,  or  at  that  of  Themistocles 
himself,  in  472-1  B.  c.  See  the  note  on  Themistocles,  xxii. 
2.  Other  specimens  carry  the  names  of  Megacles,  ostracized 
in  487-6,  and  of  Xanthippus,  the  father  of  Pericles,  ostracized 
in  485-4.  See  Aristotle's  Constitution  of  Athens,  c.  xxii,  and 
Sandys'  notes  ad  loc. 

VII.  5.  At  the  time  of  which  I  was  speaking :  483-2 
B.  C.  See  the  note  on  Themistocles,  v.  5. 

It  is  said :  the  story,  one  of  the  best  that  Plutarch  tells, 
is  found  also  in  Nepos,  Aristides,  13:"  Cui  ille  respondit 
se  ignorare  Aristiden,  sed  sibi  non  placere  quod  tarn  cupide 
elaborasset  ut  piaster  ceteros  lustus  appellaretur." 

VII.  6.   The  opposite  of  that  which  Achilles  made : 
when  he  besought  his  mother  to  "ascend  to  heaven  and 
bring  her  prayer  to  Jove"  in  behalf  of  her  outraged  son 
(Iliad,  L  407^tl2) : 

"  Remind  him  of  all  this,  and,  sitting  down, 
Embrace  his  knees,  and  pray  him  to  befriend 
The  Trojans,  that  the  Greeks,  hemmed  in  and  slain 
Beside  their  ships  and  by  the  shore,  may  learn 
To  glory  in  their  king,  and  even  he, 
Wide-ruling  Agamemnon,  may  perceive 
How  grievous  was  his  folly  when  he  dared 
To  treat  with  scorn  the  bravest  of  the  Greeks."     (Bryant.) 

As  it  seems :  i.  e.  as  the  Homeric  poem  has  it. 

VIII.  Between  this  and   the    preceding  chapters   come 
chronologically  the   events   narrated   in  Themistocles,  vi— x. 
The  narrative  in  the  Themistocles,  XL,  should  now  be  closely 
compared. 

VIII.  1.  In  the  third  year  thereafter:  the  spring  of 
480  B.C.  See  the  note  on  Themistocles,  xi.  1,  where  The- 


-IX.  i]  NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  279 

mistocles  is  made  the  author  of  the  bill  for  the  recall  of 
Aristides. 

General  with  sole  powers :  see  the  note  on  Themistocles, 
vi  1. 

VIII.  2.  Compare  Themistocles,  xii.,  and  the  notes 
thereon. 

VIII.  3, 4  A  rhetorical  embellishment  of  the  details 
given  in  Themistocles,  xii.  3.  Plutarch  undoubtedly  referred 
to  his  own  work  in  the  earlier  biography,  but  he  goes  back 
also  to  the  Herodotean  story  (viii.  79,  80)  for  the  rhetoric. 

VIII.  4.  Inasmuch  as  he  had  the  greater  influence : 
"  For  if  I  speak  to  them,"  says  Themistocles  in  Herodotus, 
viii  80,  "they  will  think  it  a  feigned  tale,  and  will  not 
believe  that  the  Barbarians  have  inclosed  us  around." 

VIII.  5.   The  council  of  generals :  this  item  of  the  coun- 
cil, too,  is  Herodotean.     It  is  from  the  council  that  Aristides 
calls  Themistocles  forth,  according  to  Herodotus,  and  to  the 
council  that  Aristides  breaks  his  news.     For  the  sake  of 
the  story  to  be  told  in  this  paragraph,  Plutarch  adopts  the 
council-feature,  though  in  his  previous  narrative,  both  here 
and  in  the  Themistocles,  he  does  not  use  it,  but  has  Themis- 
tocles summoned  from  his  tent.     In  Herodotus,  too  (see  the 
citation  in  the  note  on  Themistocles,  xii.  3),  Aristides  leaves 
the  council  as  soon  as  he  has  told  his  tidings. 

There  is  another  feature  of  the  story  which  shows  that  it 
is  lugged  in  here  from  some  more  appropriate  context,  or 
perhaps  changed  to  fit  this  context.  Cleocritus  is  the  Cor- 
inthian general  at  Platsea  (c.  xx.  2),  but  Adeimantus  at 
Salamis  (Herod.,  viii.  59,  61). 

IX.  1.   "While  the  captains  were  acting  on  this  plan: 
Plutarch  transfers  the  exploit  of  Psyttaleia  from  a  point 
following  the  naval  battle,  where  ^Eschylus  and  Herodotus 
put  it,  to  a  point  just  preceding  the  battle.     He  does  this  to 
introduce  more  plausibly  the  incredible  story  of  §  2.     See  the 
note  on  Themistocles,  xiii.  2.     No  mention  of  Psyttaleia  is 
made  in  the  Themistocles.     The  Persians  of  ^Eschylus,  whose 
political  purpose  it  was  to  enhance  the  services  at  Salamis 


280  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [IX.  i- 

of  Aristides,  the  political  rival  of  Themistocles,  makes  it  very 
prominent.  After  the  messenger  has  told  Queen  Atossa  of 
the  destruction  of  the  Persian  ships  with  their  crews,  he 
checks  her  cries  of  sorrow  with  the  assurance  that  the  half 
has  not  been  told  (433-464):  — 

"  Those  Persians  that  were  in  the  bloom  of  life, 
Bravest  of  heart  and  noblest  in  their  blood, 
And  by  the  King  himself  deemed  worthiest  trust, 
Basely  and  by  most  shameful  death  have  died." 

(Atossa)    "  Ah  !  woe  is  me,  my  friends,  for  our  ill  fate! 
What  was  the  death  by  which  thou  say'st  they  died  ?  " 

(Messenger)    "  There  is  an  isle  that  lies  off  Salamis, 

Small,  with  bad  anchorage  for  ships,  where  Pan, 

Pan  the  dance-loving,  haunts  the  sea-washed  coast. 

There  Xerxes  sends  those  men,  that  when  their  foes, 

Being  wrecked,  should  to  the  island  safely  swim, 

They  might  with  ease  destroy  th'  Hellenic  host, 

And  save  their  friends  from  out  the  deep  sea's  paths; 

But  ill  the  future  guessing :  for  when  God 

Gave  the  Hellenes  the  glory  of  the  battle, 

In  that  same  hour,  with  arms  well  wrought  in  bronze, 

Shielding  their  bodies,  from  their  ships  they  leaped, 

And  the  whole  isle  encircled,  so  that  we 

Were  sore  distressed,  and  knew  not  where  to  turn; 

For  here  men's  hands  hurled  many  a  stone  at  them ; 

And  there  the  arrows  from  the  archer's  bow 

Smote  and  destroyed  them ;  and  with  one  great  rush, 

At  last  advancing,  they  upon  them  dash 

And  smite,  and  hew  the  limbs  of  these  poor  wretches, 

Till  they  their  foes  had  utterly  destroyed."     (Plumptre.) 

Herodotus,  after  finishing  his  account  of  the  sea-fight, 
says  (viii  95) :  "  In  the  midst  of  the  confusion  Aristides,  the 
son  of  Lysiinaclms,  the  Athenian,  of  whom  I  lately  spoke  as 
a  man  of  the  greatest  excellence,  performed  the  following 
service.  He  took  a  number  of  the  Athenian  heavy-armed 
troops,  who  had  previously  been  stationed  along  the  shore  of 
Salamis,  and  landing  with  them  on  the  islet  of  Psyttaleia, 


-IX.  3]  NOTES   ON  THE  AMIS  TIDES  281 

slew  all  the  Persians  by  whom  it  was  occupied."  And  fol- 
lowing his  account  of  the  famous  message  of  Themistocles 
to  Xerxes,  he  says  (viii.  76) :  "  Then  the  captains,  believing 
all  that  the  messenger  had  said,  proceeded  to  land  a  large 
body  of  Persian  troops  on  the  islet  of  Psyttaleia,  which  lies 
between  Salamis  and  the  mainland.  .  .  .  The  Persian  troops 
were  landed  on  the  islet  of  Psyttaleia,  because,  as  soon  as 
the  battle  began,  the  men  and  wrecks  were  likely  to  be 
drifted  thither,  as  the  isle  lay  in  the  very  path  of  the  coming 
fight,  —  and  they  would  thus  be  able  to  save  their  own  men 
and  destroy  those  of  the  enemy." 

IX.   2.   Compare  Tkemistocles,  xiii.  2,  and  notes  thereon. 

A  trophy :  no  other  mention  is  made  of  this  special 
trophy  for  that  part  of  the  struggle  which  took  place  on 
Psyttaleia.  A  trophy  for  the  entire  victory  was  erected  on 
Salamis  (see  the  coins,  cc,  opposite  p.  254).  "In  Salamis 
there  is  a  sanctuary  of  Artemis  and  a  trophy  of  the  victory 
which  Themistocles  son  of  Neocles  was  instrumental  in 
winning  for  the  Greeks.  ...  In  front  of  Salamis  is  an 
island  named  Psyttaleia.  They  say  that  about  four  hun- 
dred Barbarians  landed  on  it,  and  that,  when  the  fleet  of 
Xerxes  was  worsted,  the  Greeks  crossed  over  and  put 
them  to  the  sword.  The  island  contains  no  really  artistic 
image,  only  some  rude  wooden  idols  of  Pan  "  (Pausanias,  i 
36,  1).  The  number  of  the  Persians  who  perished  on  Psyt- 
taleia is  given  by  Pausanias  alone.  Had  there  been  a  trophy 
there  he  would  certainly  have  mentioned  it,  for  he  says 
(iv.  36,  6) :  "  every  one  has  heard  of  Psyttaleia  at  Salamis, 
because  of  the  Medes  who  perished  there." 

IX.   3.   Compare  Themistocles,  xvi.,  with  the  notes  thereon. 

Sent  once  more  the  eunuch  Arnaces :  so  Plutarch,  for- 
getting, apparently,  that  he  had  made  Sicinnus,  a  Persian 
captive,  the  messenger  in  the  first  stratagem  (Themist.,  xii  .2.) 
Herodotus  has  Sicinnus  (the  second  time  in  company  with 
other  trustworthy  men)  the  messenger  for  both  stratagems 
(viii.  75,  110),  and  this  probably  led  Plutarch  here  to  have 
the  same  messenger  for  both,  —  but  not  the  right  one. 


282  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [X.  i- 

X.  1-3.  The  matter  of  these  paragraphs  is  largely  drawn 
from  or  suggested  by  the  narrative  of  Herodotus  in  viiL 
97-144  (compare  Ephorus  in  Diodorus  Sic.  XL  28),  but  there 
are  interesting  deviations  from  Herodotus,  which  will  be 
pointed  out  in  the  notes.  It  is  uncertain  whether  the  con- 
densation and  adaptation  of  Herodotus  is  due  to  Plutarch  or 
to  his  sources  or  to  both.  The  last  sentence  of  the  chapter 
shows  that  at  least  §§4  and  5  are  from  Idomeneus.  The 
omission  of  all  mention  of  the  unenviable  r6le  given  by 
Herodotus  to  the  Macedonian  Alexander,  betokens  Mace- 
donian sympathy  or  partisanship.  Athens  and  Sparta 
differed  radically  in  their  policies ;  the  first  favoring  a  com- 
bined land  attack  on  Mardonius  in  Bceotia,  the  second  a 
defence  against  him  at  the  Isthmus,  abandoning  Athens,  as 
before  Salamis.  Athens  played  with  the  possibility  of  a 
Persian  alliance,  in  order  to  win  Sparta  over  to  her  line 
of  defence.  Mardonius  took  advantage  of  this  conflict 
of  policy  to  bid  for  Athenian  support,  using  Alexander  as 
emissary. 

X.  1.  Hurried  straight  to  the  Hellespont:  here  the  con- 
densation is  great.  According  to  Herodotus,  the  order  of 
events  is  as  follows :  Xerxes  feigns  a  continuance  of  hostil- 
ities, but  plans  retreat  (c.  97) ;  is  advised  by  Mardonius  to 
relinquish  naval  attempts,  but  to  leave  a  land  force  for  the 
conquest  of  Greece  (c.  100);  accepts  the  advice  (cc.  101-107), 
and  at  the  close  of  the  first  day  after  Salamis,  sends  his  fleet 
from  Phalerum  to  the  Hellespont.  On  the  next  day  the 
Greek  fleet  pursues  the  retreating  Persian  ships  as  far  as 
Andros,  where  a  council  of  war  is  held,  further  pursuit 
abandoned,  and  the  second  message  of  Themistocles  to  the 
King  is  sent,  in  order  to  hasten  the  retirement  of  the  Per- 
sian land  forces  from  Attica  (cc.  108-110).  Xerxes  and  his 
army  wait  a  few  days  after  the  sea-fight,  and  then  retire 
into  Bceotia,  and  Thessaly.  Here  Mardonius  picks  out  his 
forces  for  the  next  campaign  (c.  113),  and  then  Xerxes  leaves 
him  and  marches  to  the  Hellespont  in  five-and-forty  days 
(c.  115).  See  the  note  on  Themistocles,  xvi  1. 


-X.2]  NOTES   ON  THE   ARISTIDES  283 

Wrote  threateningly  to  the  Hellenes :  according  to  Herod- 
otus, Mardonius,  who  had  his  winter  quarters  in  Macedonia 
and  Thessaly  (cc.  126, 129,  131,  133),  sent  Alexander,  the  son 
of  Amyntas,  a  Macedonian  whose  sister  had  married  a  prom- 
inent Persian  and  who  was  himself  a  proxenos  or  consul  of 
Athens,  as  envoy  to  the  Athenians,  offering  to  rebuild  their 
city  and  give  them  whatever  territory  they  wanted  if  only 
they  would  make  peace  and  alliance  with  Persia  (cc.  136- 
140).  The  Spartans  also  sent  envoys  to  Athens  (Plutarch's 
next  paragraph)  to  plead  with  the  Athenians  against  the 
propositions  of  Alexander  (c.  141).  "  We  feel,"  the  Spartan 
envoys  said,  "  for  the  heavy  calamities  which  press  on  you, 
—  the  loss  of  your  harvest  for  these  two  years,  and  the  ruin 
in  which  your  homes  have  lam  for  so  long  a  time.  We  offer 
you  therefore,  on  the  part  of  the  Lacedaemonians  and  the 
allies,  sustenance  for  your  women  and  for  the  unwarlike  por- 
tion- of  your  households,  as  long  as  the  war  endures  "  (c.  142). 
The  ideas  and  spirit  of  Plutarch's  letter  "  to  the  Hellenes  "  are 
taken  from  the  advice  to  Xerxes  which  Herodotus  puts  into 
the  mouth  of  Mardonius  at  viii.  100  :  "  Do  not  grieve,  master, 
or  take  so  greatly  to  heart  thy  late  loss.  Our  hopes  hang 
not  altogether  on  the  fate  of  a  few  timbers,  but  on  our  brave 
steeds  and  horsemen.  These  fellows,  whom  thou  imaginest 
to  have  quite  conquered  us,  will  not  venture  —  no,  not  one 
of  them  —  to  come  ashore  and  contend  with  our  land  army, 
nor  will  the  Greeks  who  are  upon  the  main-land  fight  our 
troops ;  such  as  did  so  have  received  their  punishment." 

X.  2.  On  motion  of  Aristides  :  there  is  no  suggestion  hi 
Herodotus  that  Aristides  was  either  the  author  or  the  spokes- 
man of  the  reply  of  the  Athenians.  This  is  a  case  of  the 
individualization  of  general  procedure  exactly  like  that  in 
Themistocles,  XL  1,  where  Themistocles  is  made  the  author 
of  the  bill  restoring  Aristides  from  exile. 

They  answered :  in  Herodotus,  the  Athenians  answer 
Alexander  first  (c.  143),  and  then  the  Spartan  envoys  (c. 
144).  Plutarch  imagines  a  preliminary  motion  passed  in 
the  Athenian  assembly  by  Aristides,  and  read  after  the 


284  NOTES   ON   THE  ABIS  TIDES  [X.  2- 

introduction  of  the  two  embassies,  with  additional  rhetoric 
by  Aristides  addressed  to  both  embassies.  The  substance 
of  the  preliminary  motion  is  free  adaptation  of  the  lan- 
guage of  Herodotus ;  the  additional  rhetoric  is  borrowed  out- 
right. 

They  were  indignant  at  the  Lacedaemonians :  "  'T  was 
natural,  no  doubt,  that  the  Lacedaemonians  should  be  afraid 
we  might  make  terms  with  the  Barbarian ;  but  nevertheless 
't  was  a  base  fear  in  men  who  knew  so  well  of  what  temper 
and  spirit  we  are  "  (Herod.,  c.  144). 

Merely  to  win  their  rations :  "We  thank  you  for  your 
forethought  on  our  behalf,  and  for  your  wish  to  give  our 
families  sustenance,  now  that  ruin  has  fallen  on  us,  —  the 
kindness  is  complete  on  your  part!  but  for  ourselves,  we 
will  endure  as  we  may,  and  not  be  burdensome  to  you" 
(Herod.,  ibid.).  The  Athenians  were  bidding  for,  and  ob- 
tained the  promise  from  Sparta  to  join  them  in  defending 
Attica. 

X.  3.  Tell  their  people :  in  addition  to  the  contents  of 
the  formal  motion  which  had  been  read. 

Gold  above  or  below  ground :  "  Not  all  the  gold  that  the 
whole  earth  contains,  not  the  fairest  and  most  fertile  of  all 
lands,  would  bribe  us  to  take  part  with  the  Medes  and  help 
them  to  enslave  our  countrymen"  (Herod.,  c.  144 ;  Diod.  Sic., 
xi.  28,  2). 

As  long  as  yonder  sun,  etc. :  "  Return  at  once  and  tell 
Mardonius  that  our  answer  to  him  is  this:  'So  long  as 
the  sun  keeps  his  present  course,  we  will  never  join  alliance 
with  Xerxes'  "  (Herod.,  c.  143). 

Temples  defiled  and  consumed  with  fire :  these  heighten 
the  eloquence  of  both  replies  in  Herodotus. 

X.  4,  5.  The  general  tone,  at  least,  of  this  version  of 
events  described  in  Herodotus,  ix.  1-11,  is  due  to  Idomeneus, 
who  is  cited  by  name  at  the  end.  It  will  be  interesting  to 
compare  the  Herodotean  story.  When  Alexander  of  Mace- 
don  brought  back  to  Mardonius  the  answer  of  the  Athenians, 
the  Persian  "  led  his  army  with  all  speed  against  Athens," 


-X.  5]  NOTES   ON  THE  ARTS  TIDES  285 

assisted  by  Thessalians  and  Boeotians  (cc.  1,  2 ;  Diod.  Sic.,  xi. 
28,  3,  4) ;  the  Athenians  abandoned  Attica  and  Athens  at 
his  approach,  taking  refuge  a  second  time  on  their  ships  or 
on  Salamis,  so  that  Mardonius  "  only  gained  possession  of  a 
deserted  town."  This  was  ten  months  after  Xerxes  had 
taken  the  city,  i.  e.  June  of  479  B.  c.  Mardonius  sent  an 
envoy  to  Salamis  repeating  his  former  offers  to  the  Athenians, 
but  the  envoy  was  sent  back  and  the  Athenian  councillor 
who  favored  accepting  his  terms  was  stoned  to  death  with 
his  wife  and  children  (cc.  4,  5.)  As  they  fled  a  second  time 
to  take  refuge  on  Salamis  (in  Diod.  Sic.,  xi.  28,  5,  it  is  before 
they  abandon  their  city),  the  Athenians  sent  an  embassy  to 
Sparta  reproaching  the  Lacedaemonians  for  having  allowed 
the  Barbarian  to  come  a  second  time  into  Attica  instead  of 
opposing  him  with  the  Athenians  in  Boaotia  as  they  had 
promised  (c.  6).  This  embassy  found  the  Spartans  celebrat- 
ing the  Hyacinthia,  and  bent  on  completing  their  wall  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Corinth.  They  accuse  the  Spartans  of  break- 
ing faith,  and  implore  them  to  go  out  to  meet  Mardonius 
in  Attica  at  least,  since  Boeotia  was  lost  (c.  7).  The  Spar- 
tan Ephors  delayed  answer  for  ten  successive  days,  while 
their  allies  were  hurrying  the  wall  at  the  Isthmus  to  com- 
pletion. This  wall  made  them  less  anxious  for  Athenian 
co-operation  than  when  they  had  sent  their  embassy  to 
counteract  the  offers  of  Mardonius  (<?.  8).  But  on  the  day 
before  the  last  audience  fixed  for  the  Athenian  embassy,  the 
Spartans  were  persuaded  (by  Chileiis  the  Tegean,  according 
to  Herodotus)  that  they  ought  to  grant  the  request  of 
the  Athenians,  whatever  might  be  the  advantage  of  their 
Isthmian  wall,  and  sent  forth  that  same  night  five  thousand 
Spartans,  each  attended  by  seven  Helots,  under  the  command 
of  Pausanias  (cc.  9,  10).  On  the  following  day,  the  Athe- 
nian embassy  rebuked  the  Ephors  once  more  for  their 
procrastination  and  treachery,  and  threatened  to  make 
alliance  with  Persia.  But  "the  Ephors  declared  to  them 
with  an  oath :  *  Our  troops  must  be  at  Oresteium '  (in 
Arcadia)  '  by  this  time,  on  their  march  against  the  strangers ' 


286  NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [X.  5- 

(they  called  the  Barbarians  '  strangers ')."  The  Athenian 
ambassadors  were  astonished  at  the  truth,  of  which  they 
became  convinced  by  many  questions,  and  set  off  with  speed 
to  overtake  the  Spartan  army  (c.  11). 

Aside  from  making  Aristides  the  chief  personage  in  the 
Athenian  procedure,  the  condensation  of  Herodotus'  story 
is  closely  accurate.  Plutarch,  however,  corrects  this  eulogis- 
tic perversion  of  history  by  means  of  the  official  decree  send- 
ing the  embassy  to  Sparta.  This  did  not  contain  the  name 
of  Aristides.  Plutarch  found  the  decree  in  the  collection  of 
Craterus  (see  the  Introduction,  p.  40). 

Idomeneus :   see  the  Introduction,  p.  42. 

Cimon:  son  of  Miltiades  the  hero  of  Marathon,  the 
brilliant  young  aristocrat  whom  Aristides  and  the  other 
opponents  at  Athens  of  Themistocles,  aided  by  the  Spartans, 
were  pushing  forward  into  prominence.  Compare  the  The- 
mistocles, c.  xx.  Jin.,  and  see  the  note  on  Themist.,  xix.  1. 

Xanthippus :  not  the  son  of  Ariphron  and  father  of 
Pericles,  but  another  Xanthippus,  who  was  Archon  Epony- 
mous in  479/8  B.C.  The  former  Xanthippus  was  comman- 
der of  the  Athenian  fleet  in  place  of  Themistocles  (Herod., 
viiL  131).  , 

Myronides:  afterwards  one  of  the  generals  at  Plataea 
(c.  20, 1),  and  later  still  (457,  456  B.  c.)  winner  of  famous 
victories  over  Corinthians  and  Boeotians  (T-hucyd.,  i. 105, 108). 

XL-XXI.   The  battles  at  Plataea. 

The  story  is  told  with  generous  detail  by  Herodotus,  ix. 
12-89,  and  is  epitomized  by  Diodorus  Siculus  (Ephorus), 
XL  28-33.  Comparison  of  the  three  accounts  sheds  interest- 
ing light  on  the  aims  and  methods  of  Herodotus,  Ephorus, 
and  Plutarch.  As  the  story  of  Herodotus  is  the  basis  for 
the  other  two,  it  is  best  to  keep  its  general  course  well  in 
mind.  It  runs  as  follows,  grouping  by  the  three  successive 
positions  of  the  Greeks: 

(1)  cc.  12-24  (Diodorus,  cc.  28,6  —  30,4),  Plutarch,  cc.  xi 
1,  xiv. 

Mardonius  burns  Athens,  retires  into  Boeotia,  and  encamps 


CNtflAVEO  BY  B0"««r  I    i 


(a)  BOEOTIA  AND  CONFINES. 

(b)  BATTLE-FIELD  OF  PLATAEA. 


-XL  i]  NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  287 

along  the  river  Asopus,  his  forces  stretching  "  from  Erythrse, 
along  by  Hysise,  to  the  territory  of  the  Platseans"  (c.  15); 
the  Spartans,  joined  by  the  other  Peloponnesians  at  the 
Isthmus,  march  to  Eleusis,  where  they  are  joined  by  the 
Athenian  contingent.  The  combined  forces  march  to  Ery- 
thrse  in  Boeotia,  and  dispose  themselves  opposite  the  enemy 
"  upon  the  slopes  of  Mount  Cithaeron  "  (c.  19)  ;  the  Persians 
attack  with  their  cavalry  under  Masistius,  who  is  defeated 
and  slain  (cc.  20-24  =  Plutarch,  c.  xiv.). 

(2)  cc.  25-50  (Diodorus,  c.  30,  4,  5,  omitting  then  all  the 
Herodotean  details  from  c.  25  to  c.  58,  —  the  final  battle  in 
the  third  position),  Plutarch,  cc.  xi.,  xii.,  xv.,  xvi 

In  consequence  of  their  victory  over  the  Persian  cavalry, 
the  Greeks  took  up  a  new  and  bolder  position.  They  movei? 
from  high  ground  on  the  slopes  of  Cithaeron  down  into  the 
plain,  and  toward  Platsea.  "  Here  they  drew  themselves  up, 
nation  by  nation,  close  by  the  fountain  Gargaphia,  and  the 
sacred  precinct  of  the  Hero  Androcrates  (cf.  Plutarch,  c.  xi. 
2,  5),  partly  along  some  hillocks  of  no  great  height,  and 
partly  upon  the  level  of  the  plain"  (c.  25)  ;  the  Tegeans 
and  Athenians  dispute  for  the  left  wing  of  the  line  of  battle 
(cc.  26-28,  1  =  Plutarch,  c.  xii.),  "  and  forthwith  all  the 
Lacedaemonian  troops  cried  out  with  one  voice  that  the 
Athenians  were  worthier  to  have  the  left  wing  than  the 
Arcadians.  In  this  way  were  the  Tegeans  overcome,  and 
the  post  was  assigned  to  the  Athenians  "  (Herod.,  c.  28,  1) ; 
muster  and  marshalling  of  the  Greek  and  Persian  armies 
(cc.  28-32) ;  the  prophecy  of  Tisamenus  (cc.  33-36  =  Plutarch, 
xi.  2)  for  the  Spartans,  of  Hegesistratus  the  Eleian  for  Mar- 
donius  (c.  37)  ;  the  two  armies  confront  one  another  for 
eleven  days,  during  which  the  Persian  cavalry  cut  off  a 
supply-train  and  otherwise  harass  the  Greeks,  and  at  last 
Mardonius  calls  a  council  of  war  and  forces  his  resolution 
to  attack  upon  his  reluctant  officers  (cc.  38-43  =  Plutarch,  c. 
xv.  1)  ;  the  friendly  visit  of  Alexander  of  Macedon  by  night 
to  the  Greeks  (cc.  44,  4:5=Plutarch  c.  xv.  2,  3) ;  in  the  morn- 
ing the  two  armies  change  their  wings  about,  once  and 


288  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [XI.  i- 

again  (cc.  46,  47=Plutarch,  e.  xvL) ;  the  Persians  then  cut 
the  Greeks  off  from  their  water  and  supplies  (cc.  48-50), 
and  therefore  the  Greeks  are  in  great  distress. 

(3)  cc.  51-89  (Diodorus,  cc.  31-33,  continuing  from  his 
account  of  the  first  cavalry  battle,  and  now  describing  the 
final  battle),  Plutarch,  cc.  xvi  Jin.  —  xxi. 

During  the  night  the  Greeks  retire  in  confusion  toward 
a  third  position,  still  nearer  Plataea,  but  the  Lacedaemonian 
allies  go  too  far,  and  the  Athenians  lose  touch  with  the 
Spartans  (cc.  51,  52=Plutarch,  c.  xvi  fin.,  xviL  1);  Amom- 
pharetus  delays  the  Spartans  (cc.  53-57=Plutarch,  c.  xviL 
1,  2) ;  in  the  morning,  the  Persians  pursue  and  attack  the 
Spartans,  but  are  defeated  by  them  (cc.  58-65=Plutarch,  cc. 
xviL  3  -  xix.  1  =  Diodorus,  c.  31) ;  the  Athenians  support  the 
victorious  Spartans  (cc.  6G-7Q=Plutarch,  cc.  xviL  3,  4 ;  xix. 
2  =  Diodorus,  c.  32,  3-5) ;  supplementary  details  (cc.  71-89, 
Plutarch,  cc.  yix-  3-xxL,  Diodorus,  c.  33). 

XI.  1.  General  with  sole  powers :  see  the  note  on  The- 
mistocles,  vL  1. 

Eight  thousand  Athenian  hoplites :  the  number  is  given 
in  Herodotus,  ix.  28,  3,  with  those  of  the  other  Greek  states. 
In  c.  29,  Herodotus  gives  the  total  number  of  Greek  hop- 
lites as  38,700 ;  of  light-armed  troops  as  69,500 ;  in  all, "  but 
eighteen  hundred  men  short  of  one  hundred  and  ten  thou- 
sand "  (c.  30).  There  were  10,000  Lacedaemonians,  includ- 
ing 5,000  Spartans. 

There  Pausanias  joined  him :  "  At  Eleusis  they  (the 
Lacedaemonian  army  marching  from  the  Isthmus,  nearly 
60,000  strong)  were  joined  by  the  Athenians,  who  had  come 
across  from  Salamis,  and  now  accompanied  the  main  army." 
Herod.,  c.  19).  Aristides  joined  Pausanias,  in  fact,  but  the 
reverse  sounded  better  in  Athenian  ears. 

The  rest  of  the  Hellenes:  besides  Peloponnesians  and 
Athenians,  Herodotus  mentions  Potidseans  (300),  Eretrians 
and  Styreans  (600),  Chalcideans  (400),  Ambraciots  (500), 
Leucadians  and  Anactorians  (800),  Cephallenians  (200), 
^Eginetans  (500),  Megarians  (3000),  Plateeans  (600). 


-XL  2]  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  289 

They  built  a  quadrang-ular  wall :  "  for  he  (Mardonius) 
wanted  a  rampart  to  protect  his  army  from  attack,  and  he 
likewise  desired  to  have  a  place  of  refuge,  whither  his  troops 
might  flee,  in  case  the  battle  should  go  contrary  to  his 
wishes.  His  army  at  this  time  lay  on  the  Asopus,  and 
stretched  from  Erythrae,  along  by  Hysiae,  to  the  territory 
of  the  Plataeans.  The  wall,  however,  was  not  made  to 
extend  so  far,  but  formed  a  square  of  about  ten  furlongs 
each  way  "  (Herod.,  c.  15). 

XL  2.  Tisamenus  the  Eleian  made  prophecy :  this  item 
Plutarch  has  brought  away  from  the  long  Herodotean  epi- 
sode (cc.  33-37),  which  follows  the  marshalling  of  the  two 
hosts  for  the  final  struggle,  and  explains  the  eleven  days' 
delay  (the  sacrifices  on  both  sides  were  not  propitious  for  an 
attack).  Here  it  serves  to  introduce  the  apocryphal  oracle 
of  Aristides,  who,  at  all  cost,  must  be  made  the  hero  of 
Plataea,  instead  of  Pausanias,  or,  at  least,  a  hero,  with  his 
Athenians.  Athenians  and  their  leader  really  played  an 
insignificant  part  in  the  great  series  of  battles.  Tisamenus 
"found  the  victims  favorable,  if  the  Greeks  stood  on  the 
defensive,  but  not  if  they  began  the  battle  or  crossed  the 
river  Asopus  "  (Herod.,  c.  36). 

Aristides  sent  to  Delphi:  this,  and  what  follows  to  the 
end  of  the  chapter,  is  not  given  by  Herodotus.  It  probably 
comes  from  Idomeneus,  like  many  other  variations  from  and 
additions  to  Herodotus  in  Plutarch's  account  of  Plataea. 
See  the  Introduction,  pp.  42,  57. 

Vows  to  Zeus:  the  Deliverer,  or  God  of  Freedom,  to 
whom  Pausanias  and  the  allies  sacrificed  in  the  market- 
place of  Platsea  after  their  victory  (Thucyd.,  ii.  71,  2). 

Cithseronian  Hera :  Hera  was  worshipped  at  Plataea,  with 
Zeus.  Every  sixth  year,  according  to  the  local  guide  of 
Pausanias  (ix.  3, 3),  the  Plataeans  celebrated  a  great  festival 
in  their  honor  on  the  top  of  Mount  Cithaeron,  where  "an 
altar  has  been  got  ready."  The  Heraeum,  or  temple  of  Hera, 
lay  on  the  plateau  just  to  the  north  of  the  ancient  city  of 
Plataea.  See  the  note  on  xviii  1. 

19 


290  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [XI.  2- 

Pan  and  the  Sphragitic  nymphs :  "  Just  about  fifteen  fur- 
longs down  from  the  summit  on  which  they  make  the  altar  " 
(see  the  last  note),  "  there  is  a  cave  of  the  nymphs  of  Cithae- 
ron :  it  is  called  Sphragidiuin,  and  the  story  goes  that  the 
nymphs  gave  oracles  there  in  days  of  old."  Pan  is,  of  course, 
always  associated  with  rural  nymphs  and  wild  mountain 
regions. 

XI.  4.  Arimnestus:  mentioned  in  Pausanias  (ix.  4,  2)  as 
commander  of  the  Platieans  both  at  Marathon  and  at 
Plataea.  Of  him  a  statue  was  made,  at  the  feet  of  Athena, 
in  the  sanctuary  of  that  goddess  at  Platsea.  See  the  second 
note  on  xx.  3. 

A  very  ancient  temple  ...  of  Eleusinian  Demeter : 
mentioned  also  by  Herodotus,  cc.  57,  62,  65.  From  these 
passages  and  from  Pausanias  ix.  4,  3,  the  temple  would  seem 
to  have  been  near  Plataea  itself,  at  least  not  more  than 
fifteen  furlongs  distant.  See  also  the  next  paragraph,  where 
the  Platseans  control  the  site.  It  could  not  have  needed 
to  be  discovered,  as  this  late  romance  would  imply.  See  the 
general  note  on  c.  xvii. 

XI.  6.  Many  years  afterwards :  after  the  victory  at  Gau- 
gamela,  near  Arbela,  in  331  B.C.,  according  to  Plutarch's 
Alexander,  e.  xxxiv.  Plataea  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
Peloponnesians  in  426,  and  again  by  the  Thebans  in  374  or 
373.  After  Alexander  annihilated  Thebes  in  335,  the 
Hellenic  allies  voted  that  Plataea  and  Thespiae  be  rebuilt 
(Arrian,  Anab.,  L  9,  9).  The  work  may  have  dragged,  or 
been  entirely  neglected.  After  the  battle  of  Gaugamela, 
Alexander,  "eager  to  gain  honor  with  the  Grecians,  wrote 
to  them  that  he  would  have  all  tyrannies  abolished,  that 
they  might  live  free  according  to  their  own  laws,  and  spe- 
cially to  the  Plataeans,  that  their  city  should  be  rebuilt, 
because  their  ancestors  had  permitted  their  countrymen  of 
old  to  make  their  territory  the  seat  of  war,  when  they  fought 
with  the  Barbarians  for  their  common  liberty." 

"When  he  was  now  King  of  Asia :  according  to  Plutarch 
(ibid.),  he  was  thus  proclaimed  and  addressed  after  the 
victory  of  Gaugamela. 


-XIII.  1]          NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  291 

At  the  Olympic  games :  the  apocryphal  story  would  have 
us  think  of  the  festival  of  330  B.  c. 

Bestowing  their  territory  upon  the  Hellenes :  this  per- 
version and  exaggeration  of  an  original  "  furnished  their 
territory  for  the  Hellenes  to  contend  in  for  their  freedom," 
is  the  natural  basis  for  the  invented  Platsean  "  vote "  of 
§  5.  As  the  scene  of  the  battle  which  achieved  the  free- 
dom of  Hellas  from  Persian  domination,  the  city  and 
country  of  Platsea  were  declared  forever  free  and  indepen- 
dent by  Pausanias  and  the  allies  (Thucyd.,  ii.  71,  72 ;  cf.  c. 
xxi.  1  of  the  Aristides.) 

XII.  This  dispute  between  the  Tegeans  and  Athenians 
for  the  left  wing  is  told  at  much  greater  length  by  Herodotus 
(cc.  26-28,  1),  and  with  a  charming  parade  of  mythical  and 
historical  lore.  It  follows,  in  his  narrative,  the  story  of  the 
repulse  of  the  Persian  cavalry,  which  Plutarch  gives  in  c. 
xiv.  "  On  each  side  were  brought  forward  the  deeds  which 
they  had  done,  whether  in  earlier  or  in  later  times.  .  .  .  First 
the  Tegeans  urged  their  claim,  .  .  .  and  the  Athenians  made 
reply."  There  is  no  mention  of  Aristides,  for  whose  glorifi- 
cation the  story  is  told  in  Plutarch,  and  the  speech  put  into 
his  mouth  borrows  several  rhetorical  points  from  what  the 
Athenians  say  in  Herodotus.  It  is  not,  however,  the  "  coun- 
cillors and  leaders  "  who  declare  for  the  Athenians  in  He- 
rodotus, but  "all  the  Lacedaemonians,"  to  whom  especially 
the  disputants  had  appealed.  Of  course  the  Athenians,  in 
Herodotus,  cannot  and  do  not  forget  Marathon. 

XII.  1.  As  had  always  been  the  case :  from  the  mythical 
times  of  the  "  Dorian  Invasion "  the  Tegeans  claimed ;  hi 
fact,  ever  since  their  recognition  of  Spartan  supremacy  in 
the    Peloponnesus,  after   sturdy    resistance   (cf.  Herod.,  i. 
66-68). 

XIII.  This  Athenian  oligarchical  conspiracy  is  mentioned 
only  by  Plutarch.     His  source  is  unknown,  though  the  glori- 
fication of  Aristides  to  which  the  episode  is  made  to  con- 
tribute, points  to  Idomeneus.     How  much  truth  there  is 
in  the  story  cannot  be  known.     Herodotus  has  the  Thebans 


292  NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES          [Xffl.  l- 

(ix  2)  and  the  Persian  councillor  Artabazus  (ix.  41)  count, 
in  their  advice  to  Mardonius  not  to  fight  the  Greeks,  on 
the  inability  of  the  Greek  forces  to  hold  together;  but 
he  has  no  suggestion  of  political  fermentation  among  the 
Athenian  contingent. 

XIII.  3.   Lamptrse,  Acharnae :  Attic  demes  (see  the  note 
on  Themist.  LI). 

XIV.  This   successful  repulse   of  the   Persian  cavalry, 
according  to  Herodotus    (cc.  20-24),  happened  while   the 
Greeks  were  in  their  first  position,  and  led  to  their  taking 
up  a  second  and  bolder  one.     This  first  change  of  position 
is  ignored  in  the  account  of  Plutarch. 

The  chief  points  in  the  brilliant  story  of  Herodotus  are  as 
follows :  Mardonius  sends  all  his  cavalry  under  Masistius  to 
harass  the  Greeks  and  provoke  them  to  come  down  into  the 
plain ;  the  Megarians,  being  most  exposed,  were  hard  pressed 
and  sent  to  the  Greek  commanders  to  be  relieved ;  Pau- 
sanias  called  for  volunteers  to  man  the  dangerous  outpost, 
but  "none  were  willing  to  go,  whereupon  the  Athenians 
offered  themselves,  and  a  body  of  picked  men,  three  hundred 
in  number,  commanded  by  Olympiodorus,  the  son  of  Lampo, 
undertook  the  service  "  (c.  21  fin.} ;  "  selecting,  to  accompany 
them,  the  whole  body  of  archers,  these  men  relieved  the 
Megarians,  and  occupied  a  post  which  all  the  other  Greeks 
collected  at  Erythrse  had  shrunk  from  holding  "  (c.  22  init.) ; 
while  the  Barbarians  charged  in  divisions,  Masistius  was 
thrown  from  his  horse,  which  had  been  hit  by  an  arrow, 
and  slain ;  the  enemy,  perceiving  their  loss,  charged  in  mass, 
and  the  Athenians  therefore  sent  for  succor;  while  the  rest 
of  the  Greek  infantry  was  coming  up  to  their  aid,  the  three 
hundred  Athenians  were  driven  off  from  the  body  of  Masis- 
tius, "but  when  the  other  troops  approached,  the  Persian 
horse  could  no  longer  hold  their  ground,  but  fled  without 
carrying  off  the  body"  (c.  23 Jin.). 

The  facts  have  no  doubt  been  warped  by  the  tradition 
which  Herodotus  follows,  in  favor  of  the  Athenians,  but 
it  seems  a  safe  conclusion  that  what  three  thousand  heavy- 


-XIV.  2]          NOTES  ON   THE  ARISTIDES  293 

armed  Megarians  could  not  do  under  cavalry  attacks,  a 
nucleus  of  three  hundred  heavy-armed  Athenians,  supported 
by  a  large  mass  of  mobile  archers,  could  and  did  succeed  in 
doing.  We  find  the  Spartan  phalanx  in  its  turn  appealing 
for  the  aid  of  this  mobile  body  of  Athenian  archers  in  the 
final  struggle  (Herod.,  c.  60). 

The  version  of  the  skirmish  in  Diodorus  (Ephorus), 
xi.  30,  2-4,  is  rhetorically  colorless ;  but  Ephorus  puts  the 
engagement  before  the  change  of  position  from  the  slopes 
of  Cithseron  into  the  plain.  It  is  the  second  change  of  posi- 
tion which  he  eliminates  (see  the  general  note  on  xi.-xxi.). 
The  Barbarians  attack  with  all  their  horse  by  night  (a  favo- 
rite time  for  the  schematic  battles  of  Ephorus),  but  the 
Greeks,  inspired  by  the  success  of  the  Athenians,  worst 
their  enemy,  all  except  the  Megarians.  These  were  hard 
pressed  by  picked  horsemen  of  the  enemy,  and  sent  for 
aid  to  the  Athenians  and  Lacedaemonians.  Aristides  moved 
his  own  picked  corps  of  Athenians  at  once  to  the  rescue, 
and  they  charged  the  Barbarians,  plucked  the  Megarians 
out  of  their  peril,  slew  the  Persian  commander  with  many 
of  his  men,  and  routed  the  rest.  The  only  specific  item 
which  this  version  has  in  common  with  that  of  Plutarch 
is  the  individual  distinction  given  to  Aristides. 

XIV.  1.  After  this :  before  everything  in  Plutarch's  story 
since  xi.  2,  according  to  Herodotus. 

At  the  foot  of  Cithseron :  ignoring  the  first  change  of 
position  down  into  the  plain,  as  Herodotus  tells  the  story. 

To  the  number  of  three  thousand :  again  the  number  is 
taken,  by  Plutarch  or  his  source,  from  the  muster  of  both 
armies  in  Herodotus,  cc.  28-32.  See  the  note  on  xi  1. 

XIV.  2.  Hidden  from  view  by  the  enemy's  arrows :  an 
evident  reminiscence  of  the  famous  mot  of  Dieneces  the 
Spartan  (Herod.,  vii.  226) :  "  A  speech  which  he  made  before 
the  Greeks  engaged  the  Medes  "  (at  Thermopylae)  "  remains 
on  record.  One  of  the  Trachinians  told  him,  such  was  the 
number  of  the  Barbarians,  that  when  they  shot  forth  their 
arrows  the  sun  would  be  darkened  by  their  multitude. 


294  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [XIV.  2- 

Dieneces,  not  at  all  frightened,  .  .  .  answered,  ...  'If  the 
Medes  darken  the  sun,  we  shall  have  our  fight  in  the 
shade.' " 

The  rest  all  hesitated :  as  in  Herodotus,  —  doubtless  an 
Athenian  increment  to  the  tradition. 

Aristides  in  behalf  of  the  Athenians  :  it  is  simply  "  the 
Athenians"  in  Herodotus.  The  concentration  upon  their 
leader,  Aristides,  is,  of  course,  a  perfectly  natural  feature 
of  the  tradition  subsequent  to  Herodotus. 

Olympiodorus :  generally  supposed  to  be  father  of  that 
Lampo  who  was  famous  as  seer,  friend  of  Pericles,  and  one 
of  the  founders  of  Thurii,  where  Herodotus  was  for  some 
years  resident.  Through  him  the  historian  may  have  got 
the  vivid  details  of  this  engagement,  in  which  his  father 
bore  so  prominent  a  part.  This  would  be  oral  tradition 
of  the  best  quality. 

XIV.  3.  Masistius  :  "  Now  Masistius  was  a  man  of  much 
repute  among  the  Persians,  and  rode  a  Nissean  charger, 
with  a  golden  bit,  and  otherwise  magnificently  caparisoned  " 
(Herod.,  c.  20).  "As  the  Barbarians  continued  charging  in 
divisions,  the  horse  of  Masistius,  which  was  in  front  of  the 
others,  received  an  arrow  in  his  flank,  the  pain  of  which 
caused  him  to  rear  and  throw  his  rider.  Immediately  the 
Athenians  rushed  upon  Masistius  as  he  lay,  caught  his 
horse,  and  when  he  himself  made  resistance,  slew  him.  At 
first,  however,  they  were  not  able  to  take  his  life ;  for  his 
armor  hindered  them.  He  had  on  a  breastplate  formed  of 
golden  scales,  with  a  scarlet  tunic  covering  it.  Thus  the 
blows  all  falling  on  his  breastplate  took  no  effect,  till  one  of 
the  soldiers,  perceiving  the  reason,  drove  his  weapon  into 
his  eye,  and  so  slew  him  "  (c.  22).  It  is  easy  to  see,  from  the 
narrative  of  Plutarch,  how  popular  tradition  had  toyed  with 
these  tempting  details. 

XIV.  4.  The  grief  of  the  Barbarians :  "  They  shaved  off 
all  the  hair  from  their  own  heads,  and  cut  the  manes  from 
their  war-horses  and  sumpter-beasts,  while  they  vented 
their  grief  in  such  loud  cries  that  all  Boaotia  resounded  with 


-XV.  2]  NOTES   ON  THE  ARTS  TIDES  295 

the  clamor,  because  they  had  lost  the  man  who,  next  to 
Mardonius,  was  held  in  the  greatest  esteem,  both  by  the 
King,  and  by  the  Persians  generally"  (Herod.,  c.  24). 

XV.  This  romantic  midnight  visit  of  Alexander  the  Mace- 
donian to  the  Greek  outposts  is  told  with  greater  detail  by 
Herodotus,  cc.  44,  45.  Plutarch's  version  looks  like  a  free 
adaptation  of  Herodotus.  According  to  Herodotus,  when 
the  night  of  the  eleventh  day  since  the  two  armies  faced 
each  other  was  well  advanced,  Alexander  rode  on  horseback 
to  the  Athenian  outposts,  and  desired  to  speak  with  the 
generals.  They  were  summoned,  and  made  haste  to  the  out- 
post, where  Alexander  told  them  that  Mardonius  and  his 
army  were  determined  to  disregard  the  unfavorable  omens 
and  attack  on  the  following  morning.  Mardonius,  he  said, 
saw  that  the  Greek  forces  were  constantly  increasing,  and 
he  had  scant  provisions  in  his  present  positions.  The 
Greeks  must  not  be  taken  by  surprise.  They  were  to  keep 
this  information  secret  "  from  all  excepting  Pausanias," 
lest  Alexander  come  to  destruction  for  his  friendliness  to 
the  Greek  cause.  "  As  soon  as  he  had  said  this,  Alexander 
rode  back  to  the  camp,  and  returned  to  the  station  assigned 
him.  Meanwhile  the  Athenian  generals  hastened  to  the 
right  wing,  and  told  Pausanias  all  that  they  had  learnt  from 
Alexander"  (cc.  45,  46). 

XV.  1.  For  a  long  time :  about  ten  days,  according  to 
Herodotus,  and  two  days  after  the  Persians  had  cut  the 
Greeks  off  from  the  pass  of  Mount  Cithaeron  (cc.  40,  41). 

Since  he  had  supplies,  etc. :  the  reasons  which  determined 
Mardonius  to  wait  no  longer  are  put  by  Herodotus  into  the 
mouth  of  Alexander  (c.  45). 

Gave  the  watchword  to  his  commanders :  "  ordered 
them  to  prepare  themselves,  and  to  put  all  in  readiness  for 
a  battle  upon  the  morrow  "  (Herod.,  c.  42  fin.}. 

XV.  2.  Aristides  the  Athenian :  takes  the  place  of  "  the 
Athenian  generals  "  in  Herodotus. 

And  then  said :  the  speech  of  Alexander  in  Plutarch  is 
only  rhetorically  different  from  that  in  Herodotus. 


296  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [XV. 3- 

XV.  3.  It  was  not  honorable,  etc. :  an  easy  way  to 
enhance  the  probity  of  Aristides.  In  Herodotus,  Alexander 
bids  the  Athenian  generals  tell  his  tidings  to  Pausanias,  but 
to  none  other. 

XVL  This  chapter  covers  the  ground  occupied  by  Herod- 
otus in  cc.  46-51.  The  variations  are,  on  the  whole,  imma- 
terial, but  interesting,  as  revealing  the  process  of  adapting 
the  material  furnished  by  Herodotus  to  the  more  special 
purposes  of  biography.  The  adaptation  is  doubtless  largely 
due  to  Idomeneus,  but  Plutarch  also  lends  a  willing  hand. 
The  main  items  of  the  Herodotean  account  are  as  follows : 
as  soon  as  Pausanias  heard  the  tidings  of  Alexander  from 
the  Athenian  generals,  he  was  struck  with  fear  (a  delightful 
Athenian  distortion  of  the  facts),  and  proposed  the  exchange 
of  wings,  on  the  ground  that  the  Athenians  had  had  experi- 
ence of  the  Persians  at  Marathon,  and  the  Spartans  of  the 
Boeotians  and  Thessalians;  "both  sides  agreeing  hereto, 
at  the  dawn  of  day  the  Spartans  and  Athenians  changed 
places ;  the  Bosotians  gave  notice  of  the  movement  to  Mar- 
donius,  and  he  at  once  put  his  Persians  opposite  the  Lace- 
daemonians ;  Pausanias  then  resumed  the  right  wing,  and 
Mardonius,  following  suit,  his  left;  Mardonius  then  (in 
good  Homeric  fashion)  sends  a  herald  to  the  Spartans, 
taunting  them  with  cowardice,  and  challenging  them  to 
separate  battle  with  the  Persians  (c.  48) ;  receiving  no 
reply,  Mardonius  grows  more  confident,  and  sends  his  horse- 
men to  harass  the  Greek  lines ;  the  Persian  horse  not  only 
distress  the  Greek  troops,  but  cut  off  and  destroy  their 
water  supply  (the  fountain  of  Gargaphia),  and  prevent  the 
arrival  of  provisions  from  the  south ;  the  Greek  commanders 
therefore  "held  a  meeting  on  these  matters  at  the  head- 
quarters of  Pausanias  on  the  right "  (c.  50). 

XVL  1.  At  this  juncture :  i.  e.  toward  morning  of  the 
thirteenth  day  since  the  armies  faced  each  other. 

As  Herodotus  relates :  the  significance  of  this  designa- 
tion of  source  at  just  this  point,  when  the  same  source  is 
at  least  ultimately  responsible  for  what  precedes  and  follows, 


-XVI.  4]  NOTES   ON  THE  ARTS  TIDES  297 

is  exceedingly  hard  to  determine.  Of  course  Plutarch  is 
familiar  with  the  Herodotean  story,  whether  he  is  using 
it  here  at  first  hand  or  not.  As  the  facts  narrated  become 
more  startling,  and  a  Spartan  commander-in- chief  calls  upon 
an  Athenian  general  to  assume  the  post  of  chief  honor  and 
danger,  Plutarch  may  simply  reinforce  his  statement  by 
an  appeal  to  the  ultimate  source,  regardless  of  the  fact  that 
Aristides  is  not  mentioned  by  name  there,  but  rather  in  the 
secondary  source,  Idomeneus,  whose  version  Plutarch  finds 
more  to  his  purpose  as  a  biographer.  Or,  Plutarch  may 
simply  copy  the  citation  from  his  secondary  source.  Such 
uncertainties  can  never  be  removed. 

Thought  it  inconsiderate :  there  is  no  trace  of  such  reluc- 
tance in  Herodotus,  but  later  tradition  has  invented  it  to 
throw  into  relief  the  virtue  of  Aristides.  Plutarch's  adop- 
tion of  the  invention,  in  spite  of  his  familiarity  with  Herodo- 
tus, leaves  us  free  to  hold  him  responsible  for  it. 

XVI.  2.  Contended  with  the  Tegeans :  seec.  xii 

XVI.  3.  Variegated  vesture,  etc. :  see  the  note  on  Themis- 
tocles,  xviii.  1.  The  rhetoric  of  the  passage  sounds  like 
Plutarch. 

Or  to  fortune :  with  reference  to  Salamis,  —  the  good 
fortune  of  fighting  in  the  narrows.  The  couplet  Miltiades 
—  fortune,  matches  rhetorically  the  preceding  couplet, 
Marathon  —  Salamis. 

XVI.  4.  The  Thebans  heard  of  it  from  deserters :  an  in- 
ferential enlargement,  by  Plutarch  or  his  secondary  source, 
of  the  "  was  perceived  by  the  Boeotians  "  of  Herodotus. 

Through  fear  of  the  Athenians  :  clearly  an  Athenian  in- 
crement to  the  tradition.  It  is  the  second  alternative  of 
Plutarch,  the  "  ambition  to  engage  with  the  Lacedaemonians," 
which  Herodotus  develops  in  broadest  epic  fashion. 

To  a  position  farther  on  :  "  to  the  '  Island,'  —  a  tract  of 
ground  which  lies  in  front  of  Plataea,  at  the  distance  of  ten 
furlongs  from  the  Asopus  and  Fount  Gargaphia,  where  the 
army  was  encamped  at  that  time  "  (Herod.,  c.  51,  1).  "  This 
was  the  place  to  which  the  Greeks  resolved  to  remove; 


298  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES          [XVL4- 

and  they  chose  it,  first,  because  they  would  there  have  no 
lack  of  water,  and  secondly,  because  the  horse  could  not 
harass  them  as  when  it  was  drawn  up  right  in  their  front " 
(ibid.,  §  2).  "  It  was  agreed,  likewise,  that  after  they  had 
reached  the  place,  .  .  .  they  should  dispatch,  the  very  same 
night,  one  half  of  their  army  towards  the  mountain  range 
of  Cithaeron,  to  relieve  those  whom  they  had  sent  to  procure 
provisions,  and  who  were  now  blocked  up  in  that  region " 
(ibid.). 

XVIL  Compare  Herodotus,  cc.  52-61,  where  the  story  runs 
as  follows :  at  the  second  watch  of  the  night,  the  hour  agreed 
upon  for  the  retreat,  "  the  greater  number  struck  their  tents 
and  began  the  march  towards  the  rear,"  but,  in  fear  of  the 
Persian  horse,  passed  the  appointed  rendezvous,  —  the  "  Is- 
land," —  and  "  fled  straight  to  Plataea,"  twenty  furlongs  in- 
stead of  the  ten  commanded  (c.  52)  ;  Pausanias,  setting  out  to 
follow  with  his  Lacedaemonians,  is  detained  by  the  obstinacy 
of  Amompharetus  (c.  53) ;  the  Athenians,  on  the  extreme 
left  wing,  send  a  mounted  herald  to  ask  Pausanias  what  to 
do  (c.  54) ;  Pausanias  shows  the  herald  his  dilemma,  and 
bids  him  tell  the  Athenians  to  get  into  touch  with  the 
Lacedaemonians,  and  retreat  or  not  according  to  their  move- 
ments (c.  55)  ;  at  dawn,  Pausanias  with  the  Lacedaemonians 
and  Tegeans  abandoned  Amompharetus  and  his  division  to 
their  fate,  and  set  out  for  the  appointed  rendezvous  at  the 
"  Island,"  but  by  a  circuitous  route  along  the  foot-hills  of 
Cithaeron,  while  the  Athenians  set  out  for  the  rendezvous  in 
a  direct  course  through  the  plain  (c.  56) ;  Amompharetus  at 
last  sets  out  after  Pausanias,  and  joins  him  where  he  had 
halted  and  was  waiting,  "on  the  river  Moloeis.  at  a  place 
called  Argiopius,  where  stands  a  temple  dedicated  to  Eleu- 
sinian  Demeter  (Ceres)  :  "  the  Persian  cavalry  here  overtake 
them  and  begin  to  harass  them  (c.  57) ;  Mardonius,  hearing 
of  the  retreat  of  the  Greeks,  assumed  that  they  were  in 
flight,  and  crossed  the  Asopus  with  his  Persian  foot  in  hot 
pursuit  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  not  seeing,  and  leaving  at  his 
right,  the  Athenians ;  the  other  divisions  of  the  barbarian 


-XVII.  1]         NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  299 

army  also  crossed  the  Asopus  and  hurried  after  Mardonius 
in  great  disorder  (c.  59) ;  Pausanias  sends  a  horseman  to  the 
Athenians  asking  their  assistance  (c.  60) ;  the  Athenians 
are  prevented  from  giving  assistance  because  attacked  by 
the  "  Greeks  on  the  King's  side,  whose  place  in  the  line  had 
been  opposite  them,"  and  so  the  Lacedsemonians  and  Tegeans 
are  left  to  resist  the  Persians  alone ;  their  sacrifice  gives  no 
favorable  omens  for  attack,  and  many  of  them  are  wounded 
by  the  clouds  of  Persians  arrows  (c.  61). 

XVII.  1.  Their  first  defences:  rather  their  second,  accord- 
ing to  the  narrative  of  Herodotus.  See  the  general  note  on 
xi.-xxi. 

Most  of  them  :  the  centre,  evidently,  composed,  according 
to  Herodotus  (c.  28),  of  12,300  Peloponnesians,  and  6,900 
from  other  parts  of  Hellas  (see  the  note  on  xi.  1),  all  heavy- 
armed,  together  with  about  the  same  number  of  light-armed 
troops.  But  the  Lacedaemonians  and  Tegeans  who  defeated 
the  Persians  of  Mardonius  numbered  53,000  according  to 
Herodotus,  c.  61,  and  the  Athenians  numbered  8,000  hoplites 
and  as  many  light-armed  troops.  These  did  not  decamp 
and  retire  in  hasty  disorder,  and  they  must  have  formed 
the  greater  part  of  the  army. 

The  Lacedaemonians  alone  :  with  them  were  three  thou- 
sand Tegeans  "whom  nothing  could  induce  to  quit  their 
side  "  (Herod.,  c.  61). 

Amompharetus :  "  the  son  of  Poliadas,  who  was  leader 
of  the  Pitanate  cohort.  ...  It  had  happened  that  he  was 
absent  from  the  former  conference  of  the  commanders,  and 
so  what  was  now  taking  place  astonished  him "  (Herod.,  c. 
53).  Whatever  the  "  Pitanate  cohort "  was,  —  and  ancient 
authorities  (including  Herodotus  and  Thucydides)  as  well  as 
modern  are  greatly  at  variance  on  the  question,  —  it  was  a 
large  and  important  division  of  the  Spartan  army,  —  possibly 
as  large  as  one-sixth,  or  even  one-fourth,  —  and  Amompha- 
retus an  officer  of  high  rank,  entitled  to  a  vote  in  councils 
of  war.  Herodotus  probably  got  the  details  of  this  affair  at 
first  hand.  "  I  myself  once  fell  in  with  the  grandson  of  this 


300  NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES         [XVII.  i- 

Archias  "  (who  died  the  death  of  a  hero  in  the  expedition  of 
the  Lacedaemonians  against  Samos,  about  525  B.  c.),  "  a  man 
named  Archias,  like  his  grandsire,  and  the  son  of  Samius, 
whom  I  met  at  Pitana,  to  which  canton  (of  Sparta)  he  be- 
longed "  (iiL  55).  "  Pitana  appears  to  have  been  the  aristo- 
cratic quarter"  (Frazer,  on  Pausanias,  iii,  16,  9).  There 
were  three  other  quarters,  or  wards. 

XVII.  2.  Picked  up  a  great  stone  :  small  stones,  or 
pebbles,  were  used  as  ballots. 

Sent  to  the  Athenians :  according  to  Herodotus,  the 
Athenians  sent  a  mounted  herald  to  Pausanias.  See  the 
general  note  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter.  The  story  of 
Herodotus  has  a  decided  Athenian  coloring.  "  Knowing 
that  it  was  the  Spartan  temper  to  say  one  thing  and  do 
another,  .  .  .  they  dispatched  a  horseman  to  see  whether 
the  Spartans  really  meant  to  set  forth,  or  whether  after  all 
they  had  no  intention  of  moving  "  (c.  54). 

XVII.  3.  With  great  shouting  and  clamor:  Herodotus 
says,  of  the  other  divisions  of  the  Barbarians,  who  were 
following  after  Mardonius  and  his  Persians :  "  On  they  went 
with  loud  shouts  and  in  a  wild  rout,  thinking  to  swallow  up 
the  runaways"  (c.  59  Jin.). 

Forgot  to  give  the  signal  to  the  confederate  Hellenes : 
an  attempt,  whether  justifiable  or  not,  to  soften  the  asper- 
sions of  Herodotus  upon  the  conduct  of  the  allies.  Pau- 
sanias sent  a  horseman  to  the  Athenians  (Herod.,  c.  60),  and 
might  have  done  the  same  thing  for  the  allies,  perhaps  did. 
The  allies  did  not  control  the  literary  tradition  of  the  battle 
as  the  Athenians  did. 

XVII.  4.  The  horsemen  were  charging  upon  them :  in 
Herodotus,  this  precedes  the  attack  of  Mardonius  (c.  57). 
Mardonius  and  his  troops,  according  to  Herodotus,  "  made  a 
rampart  of  their  wicker  shields,  and  shot  from  behind  them 
such  clouds  of  arrows  that  the  Spartans  were  sorely  dis- 
tressed "  (c.  61).  The  tactics  of  Pausanias  were  such  that 
the  Persian  horse  could  not  annoy  him  much.  But  owing 
to  the  arrows  of  the  Persian  infantry,  "many  fell  on  the 


-XVII.  5]          NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  301 

Spartan  side,  and  a  still  greater  number  were  wounded" 
(ibid.),  Plutarch  introduces  the  Persian  rampart  of  wicker 
shields  in  the  following  chapter,  after  the  Spartans  advance 
to  the  attack. 

Callicrates :  this  Homeric  episode  is  told  by  Herodotus 
among  the  supplementary  details  of  the  battle,  in  c.  72  (see 
the  general  note  on  XL-XXL)  :  "  As  for  Callicrates,  the  most 
beautiful  man,  not  among  the  Spartans  only,  but  in  the  whole 
Greek  camp,  —  he  was  not  killed  in  the  battle ;  for  it  was 
while  Pausanias  was  still  consulting  the  victims,  that  as  he 
sat  in  his  proper  place  in  the  line,  an  arrow  struck  him  in  the 
side.  While  his  comrades  advanced  to  the  fight,  he  was  borne 
out  of  the  ranks,  very  loath  to  die,  as  he  showed  by  the  words 
which  he  addressed  to  Arimnestus,  one  of  the  Platseans ;  *  I 
grieve,'  said  he,  '  not  because  I  have  to  die  for  my  country, 
but  because  I  have  not  lifted  my  arm  against  the  enemy,  or 
done  any  deed  worthy  of  me,  much  as  I  have  desired  to 
achieve  something.' " 

XVII.  5.  Some  Lydians  fell  upon  him :  this  Lydian 
episode,  which  Plutarch  gives  on  inferior  authority  ("  some 
say "),  is  clearly  an  invention  to  explain  the  inexplicable 
annual  custom  at  Sparta,  —  a  mysterious  survival  of  an- 
cient rite,  —  of  beating  youths  till  they  were  bloody  around 
the  altar  of  Artemis  Orthia,  and  the  ceremonial  "  procession 
of  the  Lydians  "  which  followed,  the  origin  and  meaning  of 
which  had  been  forgotten.  Both  customs  antedated  long  the 
battle  of  Platsea.  Some  writer  on  Spartan  antiquities  is 
Plutarch's  source,  though  Plutarch  had  himself  witnessed 
the  rite :  "  I  myself  have  seen  several  of  the  (Spartan)  youths 
endure  whipping  to  death  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  Artemis 
surnamed  Orthia"  (Lycurgus,  xviii.  1). 

Pausanias  describes  the  sanctuary  of  Artemis  Orthia  and 
the  rite  of  mastigosis,  or  scourging,  in  iii.  16, 7-10.  The  Spar- 
tans were  "  bidden  by  an  oracle  to  wet  the  altar  with  human 
blood.  A  man  upon  whom  the  lot  fell  was  sacrificed ;  but 
Lycurgus  changed  the  custom  into  that  of  scourging  the 
lads,  and  so  the  altar  reeks  with  human  blood."  Mr.  Frazer, 


302  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES          [XVII.  5- 

in  his  interesting  and  exhaustive  note  on  the  passage,  says : 
"  Although  tradition  averred  that  the  scourging  of  the  youths 
was  instituted  as  a  substitute  for  human  sacrifice,  analogy 
suggests  that  it  was  simply  one  of  those  cruel  ordeals  which 
among  savage  tribes  youths  have  to  undergo  on  attaining  to 
manhood.  .  .  .  Probably  these  ordeals  were  originally  in- 
stituted, not  as  tests  of  endurance,  but  as  religious  puri- 
fications." 

XVIII.  Compare  Herodotus,  cc.  61  fin.,  62,  63,  67  ;  Diodo- 
rus,  c.  31.  Plutarch's  story,  in  this  and  the  following  chapter, 
is  mostly  composed  of  Herodotean  material,  whether  taken 
directly  or  not.  Additional  material  from  Idomeneus,  his 
secondary  source,  and  from  Thucydides,  will  be  pointed  out 
in  the  running  notes.  But  everywhere  the  freely  adapting 
work  of  Plutarch  himself,  —  his  independent  reproduction 
in  a  fully  blended  form  of  the  miscellaneous  material  and 
literary  reminiscences  at  his  command,  —  must  be  recog- 
nized. Diodorus  (Ephorus)  gives  us  the  most  skeleton-like 
epitome  of  Herodotus,  without  an  additional  detail. 

XVIII.  1.  "The  victims  continued  unpropitious  till  at 
last  Pausanias  raised  his  eyes  to  the  Herseum  of  the 
Platseans,  and  calling  the  goddess  to  his  aid,  besought  her 
not  to  disappoint  the  hopes  of  the  Greeks  "  (Herod.,  c.  61 
fin.').  "  As  he  offered  his  prayer,  the  Tegeans,  advancing 
before  the  rest,  rushed  forward  against  the  enemy ;  and  the 
Lacedaemonians,  who  had  obtained  favorable  omens  the 
moment  that  Pausanias  prayed,  at  length,  after  their  long 
delay,  advanced  to  the  attack  ;  while  the  Persians,  on  their 
side,  left  shooting  and  prepared  to  meet  them  "  (c.  62  init.'). 

All  tears :  a  Homeric  touch  of  Plutarch's.  Blass  aptly 
cites  the  scene  (7Z.,  xvi  1-48)  where  Patroclus,  in  anguish 
at  the  disasters  of  the  Greeks,  appears  before  Achilles  to 
beg  his  armor  and  permission  to  enter  the  battle : 

"  Meanwhile  Patroclus  stood  beside  his  friend, 
The  shepherd  of  the  people,  Peleus'  son, 
And  shed  hot  tears,  as  when  a  fountain  sheds 
Dark  waters  streaming  down  a  precipice."     (Bryant.) 


-XVIII.  2]         NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  303 

Toward  the  Heraeum :  the  reference  is  not  plain  in  Plu- 
tarch's story,  but  perfectly  so  in  the  story  of  Herodotus, 
because  he  has  taken  pains  to  locate  the  temple  in  an  earlier 
passage,  namely,  where  he  is  describing  the  panic  flight  of 
the  Greek  centre  (c.  52)  :  « They  fled  straight  to  Platsea ; 
where  they  took  post  at  the  temple  of  Hera,  which  lies 
outside  the  city,  at  the  distance  of  about  twenty  furlongs 
from  Gargaphia,  and  here  they  pitched  their  camp  in  front 
of  the  sacred  building."  "The  ruins  of  Platsea  lie  on  a 
plateau  at  the  foot  of  Cithaeron  about  two  and  a  half  miles 
from  the  Asopus,  which  flows  at  this  point  in  a  compara- 
tively straight  line  toward  the  east "  (W.  I.  Hunt,  in  Papers 
of  the  American  School  at  Athens,  Vol.  V.,  p.  273,  The 
Battlefield  of  Platcea}.  "The  Herseum  was  therefore  in 
the  direction  of  Platsea  from  the  middle  of  the  (second 
Greek)  line,  and  the  site  was  probably  unfavorable  for 
a  cavalry  attack,  or  the  Greeks  would  not  have  halted  so 
comfortably.  If  it  was  in  the  northern  (and  lower)  part 
of  the  plateau  upon  which  Platsea  lies  that  they  halted, 
they  would  be  protected  on  the  west  and  north ;  for  at  this 
point  the  plateau  rises  somewhat  abruptly  from  the  plain  " 
(ibid.,  p.  278).  At  the  time  of  the  battle,  the  city  of  Pla- 
tsea occupied  the  southern  portion  only  of  the  plateau,  and 
the  Herseum,  therefore,  lay  below  the  city  on  the  lower 
plateau  to  the  north.  It  was  easily  seen  by  Pausanias,  who 
stood  on  higher  ground  to  the  southeast. 

Citheeronian  Hera :  see  the  note  on  xi.  2. 

XVIII.  2.  They  made  a  rampart  of  their  targets,  etc. : 
Plutarch  has  carelessly  transposed  this  feature  out  of  its 
proper  place.  It  preceded  the  long  delay  of  the  Spartan 
attack,  and  ceased  with  the  attack. 

Tore  away  their  wicker  targets,  etc. :  "  And  first  the 
combat  was  at  the  wicker  shields  "  (continuing  the  citation 
in  §  1).  "Afterwards,  when  these  were  swept  down,  a 
fierce  contest  took  place  by  the  side  of  the  temple  of  Deme- 
ter  (Ceres),  which  lasted  long,  and  ended  in  a  hand-to-hand 
struggle.  The  Barbarians  many  times  seized  hold  of  the 


304  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES        [XVIII.  2- 

Greek  spears  and  brake  them ;  for  in  boldness  and  warlike 
spirit  the  Persians  were  not  a  whit  inferior  to  the  Greeks ; 
but  they  were  without  bucklers,  untrained,  and  far  below  the 
enemy  in  respect  of  skill  in  arms.  Sometimes  singly,  some- 
times in  bodies  of  ten,  now  fewer  and  now  more  in  number, 
they  dashed  forward  upon  the  Spartan  ranks,  and  so 
perished  "  (Herod.,  c.  62). 

XVIII.  3.  As  they  say :  Herodotus  says  so  distinctly,  — 
in  fact  devotes  two  chapters  (60,  61)  to  the  episode.  See 
the  general  note  on  xvii.  It  was  before  the  attack  of  the 
Persian  infantry  that  Pausanias  sent  for  Athenian  aid,  and 
the  Athenians  at  once  set  out  to  join  him,  but  were  pre- 
vented by  the  onset  of  the  medising  Greeks.  Plutarch 
would  prefer  to  have  the  Athenians  started  on  their  way 
to  aid  the  Spartans  by  the  sounds  of  battle  rather  than 
by  a  messenger,  for  if  a  messenger  could  be  sent  to  the 
Athenians,  why  not  also  to  the  decamping  centre  ?  But 
this  would  conflict  with  his  apology  for  the  non-participa- 
tion of  the  centre  in  the  battle  (see  rvii  3  and  note).  His 
"  as  they  say,"  then,  is  a  slur  upon  testimony  which  is 
unwelcome  to  him. 

Aristides :  again  stands  for  "  the  Athenians  "  of  Herodo- 
tus. And  there  is  no  rhetoric  wasted  on  the  medisers  in 
Herodotus.  The  Athenians  "  were  anxious  to  go  to  the 
aid  of  the  Spartans,  and  to  help  them  to  the  uttermost 
of  their  power ;  but,  as  they  were  upon  the  march,  the 
Greeks  on  the  King's  side,  whose  place  in  the  line  had 
been  opposite  to  them,  fell  upon  them,  and  so  harassed 
them  by  their  attacks  that  it  was  not  possible  for  them 
to  give  the  succor  they  desired  "  (Herod.,  c.  61). 

XVIII.  4.  About  fifty  thousand  in  number :  these  con- 
sisted of  Boeotians,  Locrians,  Malians,  and  Thessalians,  ac- 
cording to  Herodotus  (c.  31),  but  he  does  not  state  their 
number. 

Chiefly  with  the  Thebans  :  "  As  for  the  Greeks  upon  the 
King's  side,  while  most  of  them  played  the  coward  pur- 
posely, the  Boaotians,  on  the  contrary,  had  a  long  struggle 


-XIX.  i]          NOTES  ON  THE  AEISTIDES  305 

with  the  Athenians.  Those  of  the  Thebans  who  were 
attached  to  the  Medes,  displayed  especially  no  little  zeal; 
far  from  playing  the  coward,  they  fought  with  such  fury 
that  three  hundred  of  the  best  and  bravest  among  them 
were  slain  by  the  Athenians  in  this  passage  of  arms.  But 
at  last  they  too  were  routed,  and  fled  away, — not  however, 
in  the  same  direction  as  the  Persians  and  the  crowd  of  allies, 
who,  having  taken  no  part  in  the  battle,  ran  off  without 
striking  a  blow,  —  but  to  the  city  of  Thebes  "  (Herod.,  c.  67). 
This  bitterly  anti-Theban  Athenian  version  of  Herodotus 
is  very  unpalatable  to  Plutarch.  He  therefore  slurs  it  with 
his  "is  said,"  which,  like  the  "as  they  say"  of  §  3, 
implies  untrustworthiness,  and  he  mitigates  the  lack  of 
Hellenic  patriotism  which  the  Thebans  undoubtedly  dis- 
played by  the  apologetic  reference  to  the  undue  influence 
of  the  oligarchical  few  over  the  masses  which  follows.  This 
is  suggested  to  him  by  the  remarkable  defence  which  Thu- 
cydides  (iii.  62)  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  Thebans,  when 
they  argue  with  the  Spartans  for  the  death  of  the  Platseans, 
after  the  capture  of  their  city  in  427  B.  c.  "  In  those  days  our 
state  was  not  governed  by  an  oligarchy  which  granted  equal 
justice  to  all,  nor  yet  by  a  democracy ;  the  power  was  in 
the  hands  of  a  small  cabal,  than  which  nothing  is  more 
opposed  to  law  or  to  true  political  order,  or  more  nearly 
resembles  a  tyranny.  The  rulers  of  the  state,  hoping  to 
strengthen  their  private  interest  if  the  Persian  won,  kept 
the  people  down  and  brought  him  in.  The  city  at  large, 
when  she  acted  thus,  was  not  her  own  mistress ;  and  she 
cannot  be  fairly  blamed  for  an  error  which  she  committed 
when  she  had  no  constitution." 

XIX.  Compare  Herodotus,  cc.  63-70,  85,  and  see  the 
general  note  on  the  preceding  chapter. 

XIX.  1.  In  two  places:  on  the  right,  near  the  temple 
of  Demeter  (Ceres),  between  the  Spartans  (and  Tegeans) 
and  the  Persians  under  Mardonius ;  and  on  the  left,  down 
in  the  valley,  between  the  Athenians  and  the  medising 
Greeks. 

20 


306  NOTES   ON   THE  AR IS TIDES          [XIX.  l- 

First  to  repulse  the  Persians  :  this  is  not  expressly  stated 
by  Herodotus,  but  is  a  natural  inference  from  several  inci- 
dents in  his  story. 

Mardonius  was  slain,  etc. :  "  The  fight  went  most  against 
the  Greeks  where  Mardonius,  mounted  upon  a  white  horse, 
and  surrounded  by  the  bravest  of  all  the  Persians,  the 
thousand  picked  men,  fought  in  person.  So  long  as  Mar- 
donius was  alive,  this  body  resisted  all  attacks,  and,  while 
they  defended  their  own  lives,  struck  down  no  small  number 
of  Spartans;  but  after  Mardonius  fell,  and  the  troops  with 
him,  which  were  the  main  strength  of  the  army,  perished, 
the  remainder  yielded  to  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  took  to 
flight "  (Herod.,  c.  63).  "  Mardonius  was  slain  by  Aeimnes- 
tus,  a  man  famous  in  Sparta  "  (c.  64).  Further  details  of  his 
death  are  not  given  by  Herodotus.  "  The  body  of  Mardonius 
disappeared  the  day  after  the  battle ;  but  who  it  was  that 
stole  it  away  I  cannot  say  with  certainty.  I  have  heard 
tell  of  a  number  of  persons,  and  those  too  of  many  different 
nations,  who  are  said  to  have  given  him  burial ;  and  I  know 
that  many  have  received  large  sums  on  this  score  from 
Artontes  the  son  of  Mardonius ;  but  I  cannot  discover  with 
any  certainty  which  of  them  it  was  who  really  took  the 
body  away  and  buried  it.  Among  others,  Dionysophanes, 
an  Ephesian,  is  rumored  to  have  been  the  actual  person  " 
(Herod.,  c.  84). 

Popular  tradition  revelled  in  the  uncertainties  of  the  case. 
The  only  certain  fact  was  that  Mardonius  disappeared  after 
bravely  but  hopelessly  resisting  the  charge  of  the  heavy- 
armed  Spartan  infantry.  The  brief  compendium  of  Aristo- 
demus  (circa  200  A.  D.),  based  almost  entirely  on  Herodotus 
for  the  period  of  the  Persian  wars,  can  still  find  space 
to  add  the  detail  of  Mardonius'  fighting  "  bare-headed."  A 
phrase  of  Ephorus  (Diodorus,  c.  31, 2)  implies  that  he 
fell  stunned,  not  dead,  and  later  tradition  was  not  slow 
to  take  the  hint  and  have  Mardonius  escape  with  wounds 
(so  Ctesias,  Persica,  25,  and  Justin,  ii.  14,  5  :  "  nam  victus 
Mardonius  veluti  ex  naufragio  cum  paucis  profugit ").  Pau- 


-XIX.  i]  NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  307 

sanias,  writing  in  the  second  half  of  the  second  century 
A.  D.,  says  (ix.  2,  2) :  "  Eeturning  to  the  highway  (between 
Erythrse  and  Platsea)  we  come  to  what  is  said  to  be  the 
tomb  of  Mardonius,  also  on  the  right.  That  the  corpse 
of  Mardonius  disappeared  immediately  after  the  battle  is 
admitted ;  but  people  are  not  agreed  as  to  the  person  who 
buried  it.  It  is  known  that  Mardonius'  son  Artontes  gave 
many  gifts,  not  only  to  Dionysophanes  of  Ephesus,  but  also 
to  other  lonians,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  been  not 
unmindful  of  having  Mardonius  buried." 

Arimnestus :  this  is  an  error,  either  of  Plutarch  or  his 
source  (or  both),  for  the  Aeimnestus  of  Herodotus. 

The  shrine  of  Amphiaraiis :  see  the  note  on  ill  3.  As 
the  seer  fled  before  his  Theban  pursuer,  the  earth,  struck 
by  a  thunderbolt,  opened  and  received  him,  together  with 
his  chariot  and  steeds.  A  renowned  dream-oracle  long 
marked  the  spot.  "  At  this  sanctuary  of  Amphiaraiis  near 
Thebes,  oracles  were  given  in  dreams  to  inquirers  who  slept 
within  the  precinct "  (Frazer's  note  on  Pausanias,  ix.  8,  3). 
According  to  Herodotus  (viii.  133,  134),  Mardonius,  before 
leaving  his  winter  quarters  in  Thessaly  in  the  spring  of  479 
B.C.,  "  despatched  a  man  named  Mys,  an  Europian  (Carian) 
by  birth,  to  go  and  consult  the  different  oracles  whereof  he 
found  it  possible  to  make  trial."  Mys  went  to  the  oracle  of 
Trophonius  at  Lebadeia,  to  "  Abse  of  the  Phocians,  and  there 
consulted  the  god ;  while  at  Thebes,  to  which  place  he  went 
first  of  all,  he  not  only  got  access  to  Apollo  Ismenius,  .  .  . 
but  likewise  prevailed  on  a  man  who  was  not  a  Theban, 
but  a  foreigner,  to  pass  the  night  in  the  temple  of  Am- 
phiaraiis." The  dream-oracle  of  Amphiaraiis  at  Oropus,  on 
the  confines  of  Attica  and  Boeotia,  appears  to  have  been 
transferred  to  that  place  from  the  neighborhood  of  Thebes, 
between  431  and  414  B.  c. 

A  Lydian  man,  and  a  Carian  besides,  etc. :  it  was  Mys 
the  Carian,  according  to  Herodotus  (viii  135),  who  consulted 
the  oracle  of  the  Ptoan  Apollo,  and  received  a  response 
in  the  Carian  tongue.  The  "  Lydian  man  "  of  Plutarch  may 


308  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [XDL  i- 

have  been  the  foreigner  whom  Mys  hired  to  spend  a  night 
in  the  precinct  of  Amphiaraiis. 

The  shrine  of  the  Ptoan  Apollo :  "  it  is  in  the  country 
of  the  Thebans,  and  is  situate  on  the  mountain  (Mt.  Ptoiis) 
side  overlooking  Lake  Copals,  only  a  little  way  from  the 
town  called  Acr&Tphia,"  (Herod.,  loc.  cit.).  Mr.  Frazer's  note  on 
Pausanias,  ix.  23,  6  describes  the  locality  and  the  shrine, 
and  the  results  of  the  excavations  of  the  French  School  in 
1885, 1886,  and  1891. 

Addressed  in  the  Carian  tongue :  "  No  sooner  was  he 
entered,"  says  Herodotus  (viii  135),  "  than  the  prophet 
delivered  him  an  oracle,  but  in  a  foreign  tongue  ;  so  that  his 
Theban  attendants  were  astonished,  hearing  a  strange  lan- 
guage when  they  expected  Greek,  and  did  not  know  what 
to  do.  Mys,  however,  the  Europian,  snatched  from  their 
hands  the  tablet  which  they  had  brought  with  them,  and 
wrote  down  what  the  prophet  uttered.  The  reply,  he  told 
them,  was  in  the  Carian  dialect." 

XIX.  2.  These  things  are  so  reported:  a  transition 
formula  used  much  by  Herodotus. 

Their  wooden  stockade :  the  "  quadrangular  wall "  men- 
tioned in  xi.  1.  Its  exact  location  cannot  be  determined. 
It  was  in  Theban  territory,  but  may  have  been,  and  probably 
was,  at  least  partly,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Asopus.  See 
the  map  of  the  battle-field  of  Plataea.  "  The  Persians,  as 
soon  as  they  were  put  to  flight  by  the  Lacedaemonians,  ran 
hastily  away,  without  preserving  any  order,  and  took  refuge 
in  their  own  camp,  within  the  wooden  defence  which  they 
had  raised  in  the  Theban  territory  "  (Herod.,  ix.  65). 

Routed  the  Thebans :   see  xviii.  4,  and  notes. 

There  came  a  messenger :  not  mentioned  by  Herodotus. 
It  may  be  a  not  unnatural  repetition  of  the  incident  in  xviL 
2  and  xviii  3. 

Suffered  the  Hellenes  to  make  good  their  escape  :  they 
were  not  so  magnanimous  as  this  would  represent  them,  for 
the  Persian  and  Boaotian  cavalry  "  did  good  service  to  the 
flying  foot-men,  by  advancing  close  to  the  enemy,  and 


-XIX.  2]  NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  309 

separating  between  the  Greeks  and   their  own  fugitives " 
(Herod.,  c.  68  Jin.}. 

They  brought  welcome  aid  to  the  Lacedaemonians,  etc. : 
so  Herodotus,  but  we  may  be  sure  that  Athenian  tradition 
has  magnified  the  aid.  "  So  long  as  the  Athenians  were 
away,  the  Barbarians  kept  off  their  assailants,  and  had  much 
the  best  of  the  combat,  since  the  Lacedaemonians  were  un- 
skilled in  the  attack  of  walled  places ;  but  on  the  arrival  of 
the  Athenians,  a  more  violent  assault  was  made,  and  the 
wall  was  for  a  long  time  attacked  with  fury.  In  the  end 
the  valor  of  the  Athenians  and  their  perseverance  prevailed, 
—  they  gained  the  top  of  the  wall,  and,  making  a  breach 
through  it,  enabled  the  Greeks  to  pour  in.  The  first  to 
enter  here  were  the  Tegeans,  and  they  it  was  who  plundered 
the  tent  of  Mardonius  "  (c.  70).  Perhaps  the  Tegeans  would 
have  told  the  story  otherwise.  It  is,  however,  a  well  attested 
fact  that  the  Spartans  were  not  good  at  siege  operations  (see 
Rawlinson's  note  ad  loc.\  During  the  Helot  and  Messenian 
rebellion  of  465-455  B.  c.,  "the  siege  of  Ithome*  proved 
tedious,  and  the  Lacedaemonians  called  in,  among  other  allies, 
the  Athenians,  who  sent  to  their  aid  a  considerable  force  under 
Cimon.  The  Athenians  were  specially  invited  because  they 
were  reputed  to  be  skilful  in  siege  operations,  and  the  length 
of  the  blockade  proved  to  the  Lacedaemonians  their  own 
deficiency  in  that  sort  of  warfare  "  (Thucyd.,  i.  102).  The 
Athenians  were  soon  sent  away,  out  of  jealousy,  and  the 
siege  lasted  ten  years.  It  was  the  Athenians,  too,  who 
developed  the  later  and  effective  system  of  light-armed 
warfare. 

Only  forty  thousand  made  their  escape :  here  is  some 
distortion  of  the  witness  of  Herodotus :  "  With  such  tame- 
ness  did  the  Barbarians  submit  to  be  slaughtered  by  the 
Greeks,  that  of  the  300,000  men  who  composed  the  army,  - 
omitting  the  40,000  by  whom  Artabazus  was  accompanied  in 
his  flight  (described  fully  in  c.  66),  —  no  more  than  3000 
outlived  the  battle.  Of  the  Lacedaemonians  from  Sparta 
there  perished  in  this  combat  ninety-one;  of  the  Tegeans, 


310  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES          [XIX.  2- 

sixteen ;  of  the  Athenians,  fifty-two  "  (c.  70  fin.).  Artabazus, 
with  his  rear  guard  of  forty  thousand  men,  having  been 
opposed  to  the  plan  of  Mardonius  from  the  start,  when  he 
saw  that  the  Persians  were  in  flight,  "  wheeled  his  troops 
suddenly  around,  and  beat  a  retreat ;  nor  did  he  even  seek 
shelter  within  the  palisade  or  behind  the  walls  of  Thebes, 
but  hurried  on  into  Phocis,  wishing  to  make  his  way  to  the 
Hellespont  with  all  possible  speed"  (Herod.,  c.  66  fin.). 

XIX.  3.  In  all,  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty : 
Herodotus  (see  the  citation  in  the  preceding  note)  does  not 
give  the  total  loss  of  the  Greek  forces,  nor,  apparently,  the 
total  loss  of  Athenians,  Tegeans,  and  Spartans  during  the 
whole  series  of  battles,  but  only  in  the  last  desperate  struggle 
at  the  stockade.  Plutarch  gets  his  sum  total  probably  from 
Clidernus,  an  exceedingly  good  authority,  from  whom  he  also 
gets  the  item  that  the  fifty-two  Athenians  who  fell  in  the 
combat  at  the  stockade  were  all  from  the  ^Eantid  tribe. 
The  sum  total  of  Greek  dead  which  Plutarch  takes  from 
Clidemus  seems  a  reasonable  one  for  the  whole  series  of 
engagements.  The  rhetorical  Ephorus  (Diodorus,  XL  32),  find- 
ing no  details  in  his  Herodotus,  makes  them  up  to  suit  him- 
self. According  to  him,  one  hundred  thousand  Barbarians 
were  slain,  and  more  than  ten  thousand  Hellenes.  He  also 
has  the  Athenians,  Plataeans,  and  Thespians  pursue  the  re- 
treating Boeotians  and  medising  Greeks  up  to  the  walls  of 
Thebes,  where  they  win  another  sanguinary  victory,  and 
then  join  the  Lacedaemonians  at  the  stockade.  Here  he 
holds  the  balance  in  his  praises  of  the  two  great  rival  states 
very  evenly.  Both  excel  themselves  in  valor,  and  under 
their  combined  assaults  the  camp  of  the  enemy  is  captured, 
when  Pausanias,  to  remove  the  disparity  in  numbers  be- 
tween invaders  and  defenders,  gives  the  order  to  take  no 
enemy  alive.  This  is  Ephorus'  improvement  of  the  strange 
fact  that  Herodotus  makes  no  mention  of  any  prisoners  of 
war. 

XIX.  4.  Astonishing  is  the  statement  of  Herodotus: 
Plutarch's  polemic  against  Herodotus  is  not  without  justifi- 


-XIX.  4]  NOTES   ON   THE  AJRIS TIDES  311 

cation,  and  is  much  more  bitter  in  the  De  Herodoti  malig- 
nitate,  c.  xlii.  (Morals,  pp.  872,  873).     Herodotus  no  doubt 
gave  what  he  thought  the  best  tradition  in  the  matter,  but 
it  was  warped  and   distorted   by  the   hatreds  which   had 
sprung   up   among    the   Greek   states   since   the   battle   of 
Platsea,  and  colored  too  highly  with  Athenian  claims.     In 
the  decisive  struggles  of  the  last  day  the  Lacedaemonians 
doubtless  played  the  leading  role,  the  Athenians  a  second- 
ary one,  and  the  other  troops,  constituting  the  Greek  centre, 
an  insignificant  one  comparatively.     But  during  the  eleven 
days  before  the  last  and  decisive  struggle  the  entire  army 
of  the  Greeks  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and 
during  the   decisive  struggle   of  the  last  day  the  conduct 
of  the   Greek  centre  was  by  no  means  so  cowardly  and 
dilatory  as  represented  by   Herodotus.     "Meantime,  while 
the  flight  continued,  tidings  reached  the  Greeks  who  were 
drawn  up  round  the  Heraeum  (see  the  note   on  xviii.  1) 
and   so   were  absent  from  the   battle,  that  the   fight  was 
begun,  and  that  Pausanias  was  gaining  the  victory.     Hear- 
ing this,  they  rushed  forward  without  any  order,  the  Corin- 
thians taking  the  upper  road  across  the  skirts  of  Cithseron 
and  the  hills,  which  led  straight  to  the  temple  of  Demeter 
(Ceres) ;    while    the    Megarians   and    Phliasians   followed 
the  level  route  through  the  plain.     These  last  had  almost 
reached  the.  enemy,  when  the  Theban  horse  espied  them, 
and  observing  their  disarray,  despatched  against   them  the 
squadron  of  which  Asopodorus,  the  son  of  Timander,  was 
captain.     Asopodorus  charged  them  with  such   effect   that 
he  left  six  hundred  of  their  number  dead  upon  the  plain, 
and,  pursuing  the  rest,  compelled  them  to  seek  shelter  in 
Cithseron.     So  these  men  perished  without  honor"  (c.  69). 
The  Corinthians,  then,  ten  thousand  strong,  were  not  in  the 
fight  at   all,  although   their   position  could   be   seen  from 
where  Pausanias  stood.     This  looks  like  the  same  malice 
in  Athenian  tradition  which  makes  the   Corinthians   play 
the  r6le  of  despicable  cowards  at  Salamis  (Herod.,  viii.  94), 
though  the  Corinthians  themselves  "  declare  that  they  were 


312  NOTES   ON   THE  ARISTIDES          [XIX.  4- 

among  those  who  distinguished  themselves  most  in  the  fight. 
And  the  rest  of  Greece  bears  witness  in  their  favor." 

Even  more  unjust  is  Athenian  tradition  toward  the 
^Eginetans  and  their  part  at  Platoea,  as  it  was  in  the  stories 
of  Salamis  (see  the  note  on  Themistocles,  xviL  1).  And 
Herodotus  apparently  makes  no  effort  to  correct  the  evident 
perversions  of  Athenian  tradition  in  the  stories  of  Plataea, 
though  he  has  taken  great  and  creditable  pains  to  do  so 
in  the  stories  of  Salamis.  He  even  charges  the  hated 
Corinthians  and  ^Eginetans  with  erecting  cenotaphs,  or 
empty  tombs  at  Plataea,  in  order  to  deceive  posterity.  "  The 
Lacedaemonians  made  three  graves ;  in  one  they  buried  their 
youths  ;  ...  in  another,  the  rest  of  the  Spartans ;  and  in  the 
third,  the  Helots.  Such  was  their  mode  of  burial  The 
Tegeans  buried  all  their  dead  in  a  single  grave ;  as  likewise 
did  the  Athenians  theirs,  and  the  Megarians  and  Phliasians 
those  who  were  slain  by  the  horse.  Those  graves,  then, 
had  bodies  buried  in  them ;  as  for  the  other  tombs  which  are 
to  be  seen  at  Plataea,  they  were  raised,  as  I  understand,  by 
the  Greeks  whose  troops  took  no  part  in  the  battle ;  and 
who,  being  ashamed  of  themselves,  erected  empty  barrows 
upon  the  field,  to  obtain  credit  with  those  who  should  come 
after  them.  Among  others,  the  ^Eginetans  have  a  grave 
there,  which  goes  by  their  name ;  but  which,  as  I  learn,  was 
made  ten  years  later  by  Cleades,  the  son  of  Autodicus, 
a  Plataean,  at  the  request  of  the  JEginetans,  whose  agent 
he  was "  (c.  85).  The  JEginetans,  it  is  true,  were  only 
one  thousand  strong,  but  the  Megarians  and  Phliasians, 
of  whom  six  hundred  "  died  without  honor,"  were  eight 
thousand  strong. 

"  In  all  probability  the  centre,  at  the  very  beginning  of 
the  decisive  struggle,  was  summoned  to  support,  and,  since 
the  temple  of  Demeter  (Ceres)  was  only  about  a  mile 
distant  from  the  Heneum,  the  Corinthians  took  part  in  the 
struggle,  which  lasted,  according  to  Herodotus,  a  long  time  " 
(Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte,  ii.  p.  737,  note). 

Pausanias  writes  (ix.  2,  5):  "Just  at   the  entrance  into 


-XX.  i]  NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  313 

Platsea  are  the  graves  of  the  men  who  fought  against  the 
Medes.  There  are  separate  graves  for  the  Lacedaemonians 
and  Athenians  who  fell,  and  elegies  of  Simonides  are  carved 
upon  them.  The  rest  of  the  Greeks  are  buried  in  a  common 
tomb." 

The  altar  :  "  Not  far  from  this  common  tomb,"  Pausanias 
continues,  "  is  an  altar  of  Zeus  of  Freedom.  The  ...  is  of 
bronze ;  but  the  altar  and  image  of  Zeus  are  made  of  white 
marble.  They  still  celebrate  games  called  the  Eleutheria 
('  games  of  freedom ')  every  fourth  year,  at  which  the  chief 
prizes  offered  are  for  running.  They  run  in  armor  in  front 
of  the  altar.  The  trophy  which  the  Greeks  set  up  for  the 
battle  of  Platsea  stands  about  fifteen  furlongs  from  the  city." 

Inscribed:  the  inscription  is  attributed  by  Bergk,  on 
good  grounds,  to  Simonides  (Poet.  Lyr.  Greed,  iii.4  p.  484). 
It  consists,  as  Plutarch  here  cites  it,  of  two  hexameters  and 
a  pentameter.  The  Palatine  Anthology  gives  a  pentameter 
also  after  the  first  hexameter,  a  more  frequent  form  of  the 
commemorative  inscription  ("  such  their  vigor  of  soul, 
such  their  courage  and  trust"). 

XIX.  5.  The  month  Boedromion :   this  was  the  third 
month  in   the   Attic  year,   and   began  with   the   summer 
solstice.     Almost  all  the  twelve  months  were  named  after 
festivals,  this  after  the  festival  celebrating  some  mythical 
relief  brought  to  Athens  when  in  distress  from  foes,  —  the 
Amazons,  according  to  Plutarch,  Theseus,  xxvii.     It  corres- 
ponded nearly  to  our  September.     Plutarch  gives  the  date 
of  the  festival  commemorating  the  victory.     The  battle  was 
actually  fought  about  the  beginning  of  August.     See  the 
elaborate  chronological  note  of  Busolt,  Grriechische  Geschichte, 
ii2  p.  726. 

The  Hellenic  council :   see  c.  xxi.  1,  and  note. 

Even  now  :  in  Plutarch's  time,  then,  the  Julian  calendar 
of  the  Romans  had  not  influenced  materially  the  local  Greek 
calendars. 

XX.  The  material  of  this  chapter  is  found  in  no  other 
writer  but  Plutarch.     We  may  be  sure  that  if  there  had  been 


314  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  [XX.  i- 

any  such  strife  between  Athenians  and  Lacedaemonians  as 
is  here  described,  Herodotus  would  have  given  us  some  in- 
dication of  it.  It  looks  like  a  late  invention  to  glorify  Aris- 
tides,  and  probably  came  from  Idomeneus,  the  source  of 
much  similar  material  The  beautiful  temple-legend  of 
Euchidas  one  is  tempted  to  believe. 

XX.  1.  The  highest  meed  of  valor :  "  Among  the  Greeks," 
says  Herodotus  (c.  71),  "  the  Athenians  and  Tegeans  fought 
well;  but  the  prowess  shown  by  the  Lacedaemonians  was 
beyond  either."  This  is  the  historian's  personal  verdict.  Of 
an  official  verdict,  or  an  attempt  to  obtain  one,  as  after 
Salainis,  he  knows  nothing.  Ephorus  (Diodorus,  c.  33)  has 
the  Greeks,  out  of  flattery,  award  the  meed  of  valor  to  the 
Spartans  among  cities,  and  to  Pausanias  among  individual 
men. 

Leocrates  and  Myronides :  the  former  was  afterwards 
commander  of  the  Athenians  when,  in  457,  they  defeated 
the  ^Eginetans  in  a  great  sea-fight,  and  landed  and  laid 
successful  siege  to  their  city  (Thucyd.,  i  105) ;  for  the  latter, 
see  the  last  note  on  c.  x. 

XX.  2.  Theogeiton  the  Megarian,  Cleocritus  the  Cor- 
inthian :  these  commanders  would  hardly  have  been  so 
prominent  in  a  dispute  about  the  meed  of  valor  if  their 
forces  had  played  the  cowardly  part  assigned  them  hi  the 
battle  by  Herodotus  (see  the  note  on  xix.  4). 

XX.  3.  Eighty  talents  of  the  booty  for  the  Platseans : 
Herodotus  gives  (in  cc.  80  and  81)  a  glowing  description  of 
the  rich  booty,  and  an  apparently  careful  account  of  its  dis- 
tribution, but  makes  no  mention  of  this  allotment  to  the 
Plataeans ;  nor  does  Thucydides  make  his  Plataean  spokesmen 
allude  to  it  in  the  speeches  where  they  refer  to  so  many 
other  matters  connected  with  the  victory  won  in  their  terri- 
tory (ii  71;  iiL  58).  Ephorus  (c.  33)  does  not  notice  it. 
The  next  note  suggests  a  possible  origin  of  the  mistaken 
story. 

"With  which  they  rebuilt  the  sanctuary  of  Athena,  etc. : 
"  The  Platseans  have  also  a  sanctuary  of  Athena  surnamed 


-XX.  5]  NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  315 

Warlike ;  it  was  built  from  the  share  which  the  Athenians 
assigned  them  of  the  booty  taken  at  the  battle  of  Marathon. 
The  image  is  of  wood  gilded,  but  the  face,  hands,  and  feet  are 
of  Pentelic  marble.  In  size  it  falls  little  short  of  the  bronze 
image  on  the  Acropolis,  which  the  Athenians  also  dedicated 
from  the  spoils  of  the  battle  of  Marathon.  It  was  Phidias 
who  made  the  image  of  Athena  for  the  Platseans  as  well  as 
for  the  Athenians.  ...  At  the  feet  of  the  image  is  a  statue 
of  Arimnestus,  who  commanded  the  Plataeans  at  the  battle 
with  Mardonius,  and  previously  at  the  battle  of  Marathon  " 
(Pausanias,  ix.  4,  1  and  2). 

This  Marathonian  sanctuary,  with  its  statue  of  Arimnestus 
who  commanded  at  both  Marathon  and  Platsea,  doubtless 
led  to  the  mistaken  story  which  Plutarch  here  reproduces 
(or  produces).  Mr.  Frazer,  however,  in  his  note  on  the 
passage  in  Pausanias,  thinks  the  testimony  of  Plutarch  the 
more  credible. 

Frescoes :  these  too  ^Pausanias  describes :  "  There  are 
paintings  in  the  temple :  one  of  them,  by  Polygnotus,  repre- 
sents Ulysses  after  he  has  killed  the  wooers ;  the  other,  by 
Onasias,  depicts  the  former  expedition  of  the  Argives,  under 
Adrastus,  against  Thebes.  These  paintings  are  on  the  walls 
of  the  fore-temple"  (ibid.}. 

Then  the  Lacedaemonians  set  up  a  trophy  on  their  own 
account,  etc. :  again  Pausanias  may  correct  Plutarch.  He 
says  (ix.  2,  6) :  "  The  trophy  which  the  Greeks  set  up  for  the 
battle  of  Platsea  stands  about  fifteen  furlongs  from  the  city." 
Mr.  W.  I.  Hunt,  of  the  American  School,  supposed  that  the 
trophy  was  erected  near  the  sanctuary  of  Demeter  (Ceres), 
where  the  rout  of  the  Persians  took  place.  See  Papers  of 
the  American  School  at  Athens,  v.  p.  276. 

XX.  5.  A  thousand  furlongs :  about  111  miles,  the  actual 
distance  by  road. 

Eucleia:  Of  Good  Fame,  either  among  young  men  and 
maidens,  as  here,  or  among  cities.  We  get  traces  of  a  cult 
of  Good  Fame,  and  Good  Order  at  Athens.  See  Frazer's 
note  on  Pausanias,  i.  14,  5. 


NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES       [xxi.  i. 

XXI.  1.  A  general  assembly  of  the  Hellenes,  etc. :  "After 
the  Greeks  had  buried  their  dead  at  Platu-a,"  says  Herodotus 
(c.  86),  "  they  presently  held  a  council,  whereat  it  was  re- 
solved to  make  war  upon  Thebes,  and  to  require  that  those 
who  had  joined  the  Modes  should  be  delivered  into  their 
hands."  Of  this  war  upon  Thebes,  which  Herodotus  de- 
scribes at  length  (cc.  86-88),  Plutarch  says  never  a  word, 
and  of  other  decisions  of  the  council  which  are  here  given 
by  Plutarch,  Herodotus  says  nothing.  We  have  good  evi- 
dence, however,  that  Herodotus  might  have  mentioned  other 
decisions  of  this  council,  in  the  words  put  into  the  mouths  of 
Platuuan  and  Tlieban  and  Lacedaemonian  speakers  by  Thu- 
cydide.s,  in  the  passages  already  twice  cited  (see  the  notes  on 
xi.  6  and  iviiL  4),  namely,  il  71,  72,  and  iii.  58-67.  "  Pau- 
sanias  the  son  of  Cleombrotus,"  the  Platooans  say,  "the 
l,aeed;emonian,  when  lie  and  sneh  Hellenes  as  weir  willing 
to  share  the  danger  with  him  fought  a  battle  in  our  land 
and  liberated  Hellas  from  the  Persian,  offered  up  a  sacrifice 
in  the  Agora  of  Platma  to  Zeus  the  Ood  of  Freedom,  and  in 

(lie   pie  ...enee.  of   all    the    eon  ledei  at  e :(    then    ami    there    restored 

to  the  Plattcans  their  country  and  city  to  be  henceforth  in- 
dependent; no  man  was  t,o  make  unjust,  war  upon  them 
at  any  time  or  to  seek  to  enslave  them ;  and  if  they  were 
attacked,  the  allies  who  were  present  promised  that  they 
would  defend  them  to  the  utmost  of  their  power.  These 
privileges  your  fathers  granted  to  us  as  a  reward  for  the 
GOUiage  and  devotion  which  we  displayed  in  that  time  of 
danger." 

"  Cast  your  eyes,"  the  Platrcaris  say  to  the  Spartans,  after 
surrendering  to  them  in  427, "  upon  the  sepulchres  of  your 
fathers  slain  by  the  Persians  and  buried  in  our  land,  whom 
we  have  honored  by  a  yearly  public  offering  of  garments, 
and  other  eii^tomary  ^il'ls.  We  were  their  fi  iend>,  and  we 
gave  them  the  firstfruits  in  their  season  of  that  friendly 
land  in  which  they  rest.  .  .  .  But  if  you  put  us  to  death, 
.  .  .  are  you  not  robbing  your  fathers  and  kindred  of  the 
honor  which  they  enjoy  ?  .  .  .  Nay  more,  you  enslave  the 


-XXI.  4]          NOTES  ON   THE  ARISTWES  317 

land  in  which  the  Hellenes  won  their  liberty ;  .  .  .  and  you 
take  away  the  sacrifices  which  our  fathers  instituted,  from 
the  city  which  ordained  and  established  them." 

A  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving  to  Zeus  Kleutherius  (God  of 
I-Yeedom,  or  I  Jeliverer),  and  tho  inviolability  of  Hata-an 
territory,  were,  then,  decreed  by  the  "  assembly  of  the 
Hellenes,"  according  to  Thuevdides,  and  tin-  1'lata-ans  nnder- 
took  an  annual  celebration  of  the  rite,  and  annual  funeral 
offerings  to  the  Hellenic  dead  at  Platim  Whatever  is  more 
than  this  in  the  account  of  Plutarch,  which  probably  comes 
from  Idomeneus,  cannot  be  verified  from  other  authorities. 
The  prominence  given  to  Aristides  is,  as  usual  in  Plutarch's 
account  of  Plateea,  a  suspicious  trait. 

Every  fourth  year  :  like  the  Olympic  festival. 

Festival  games  of  deliverance :  described  by  Pausanias 
in  the  citation  made  in  the  note  on  "  the  altar,"  xix.  4. 

XXI.  2.  Maimaoterion :  the  Attic  month  corresponding 
(nearly)  to  our  November. 

Myrtle-wreaths :  wreaths  and  flowers  we  still  offer  to 
our  dead.  The  Greeks  added  garments,  food,  and  drink, 
with  objects  of  household  use  and  art  which  had  given 
pleasure  in  life. 

A  black  bull :  the  victims  sacrificed  to  the  dead  and  the 
gods  of  the  lower  world  must  be  black. 

XXI.  3.  Robed  in  a  purple  tunic  :  the  garb  of  the  soldier. 

XXI.  4.  The  sacred  spring :  a  spring  specially  desig- 
nated for  this  rite. 

At  the  funeral  pyre  :  so  that  the  blood  ran  into  a  trench 
dug  near  by.  It  was  then  consumed  with  the  garments  and 
other  offerings  laid  upon  the  pyre. 

Zeus  Terrestrial :  t.  e.  Hades,  or  Pluto.  With  Hermes, 
the  conductor  of  souls  to  the  lower  world,  he  is  invoked 
to  bring  the  departed  spirits  up  to  the  sacrifice  and  offerings, 
that  they  may  partake  of  them. 

Pours  a  libation :  upon  the  sacrificial  pyre,  as,  after  drink- 
ing the  health  of  a  living  friend,  he  would  pass  the  cup 
to  that  friend  that  he  also  might  drink. 


318  NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES         [XXII.  1- 

XXII-XXVIL  In  these  chapters,  Plutarch  seems  to 
have  used  Idomeneus  as  his  chief  source,  but  he  has  ex- 
panded in  his  own  manner  what  he  takes  from  Idomeneus, 
and  has  added  much  from  his  minor  sources.  Whether 
material  which  we  can  trace  to  an  ultimate  source  in  Ephorus, 
Theopompus,  and  Aristotle  comes  to  us  through  the  medium 
of  Idomeneus,  or  has  been  added  by  Plutarch  independently, 
are  questions  too  delicate  to  be  decided. 

XXII.  1.  This  paragraph  is  probably  a  perversion  (by 
Idomeneus,  or  Plutarch,  or  both)  of  a  late  oligarchical  as- 
scription  to  Aristides'  personal  activity  of  the  slow  process 
by  which  the  Athenian  people,  without  actual  premeditation, 
swung  itself  up  into  the  position  of  an  imperial  mistress 
of  unwilling  allies.  In  the  Constitution  of  Athens  of  Aris- 
totle, c.  xxiv.,  we  find :  "  After  this "  (the  wresting  of  the 
Ionian  alliance  from  Sparta  by  Aristides,  and  his  establish- 
ment of  the  tributes  to  be  paid  Athens  by  her  new  allies), 
"  the  city  being  now  emboldened  by  success,  and  possessed 
of  accumulated  wealth,  he  counselled  them  to  assume  the 
hegemony  (of  Hellas),  and  to  come  in  from  the  rural  dis- 
tricts to  dwell  in  the  city.  He  assured  them  that  there 
would  be  support  for  all ;  some  in  offensive,  some  in  defen- 
sive military  service,  and  some  in  administering  the 
commonwealth,  and  that  thus  they  would  maintain  the 
hegemony."  The  Athenians  follow  this  advice  of  Aristides, 
establish  a  supremacy  over  their  allies,  and  thus  ensure 
for  themselves  a  plentiful  support  at  their  expense  from 
tributes,  tariffs,  and  the  like,  to  the  number  of  more  than 
20,000  citizens. 

The  advice  of  Aristides  in  this  oligarchical  invention 
of  Aristotle's  source,  is  converted  into  an  actual  and  definite 
parliamentary  bill  by  Idomeneus,  just  as,  all  through  the 
story  of  Platoea,  whatever  the  Athenians  do  is  ascribed  to 
his  personal  activity.  According  to  Thucydides,  ii.  14-16, 
the  Athenians  lived  in  the  country,  for  the  most  part,  as  late 
as  the  outbreak  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  (431  B.  c.),  and 
deemed  the  enforced  removal  to  Athens  a  severe  hardship. 


-XXIII.  i]        NOTES   ON  THE  ARTS  TIDES  319 

The  privilege  of  all  classes :  this  had  been  the  case  since 
the  reforms  of  Cleisthenes  (508  B.C.).  See  the  note  on 
"  five-hundred-bushelers,"  i.  1. 

XXII.  2.   For  this   absurd  invention,   see   the  notes   on 
Themistocles,  xx.  1. 

XXIII.  Compare  Tliucydides,  i.  94-96 ;  Diodorus  (Epho- 
rus),  XL  44 ;  Nepos,  Aristides,  ii. ;  and  Plutarch,  Cimon,  vi., 
where,  naturally,  it  is  Cimon  to  whom  the  Athenians  owe 
the  good-will  of  the  allies,  not  Aristides. 

XXIII.  1.  To  prosecute  the  war :  the  war  against  Persia, 
with  the  intent  to  expel  her  from  the  ^Egean.  "  Pausanias, 
the  son  of  Cleombrotus,  was  now  sent  from  Peloponnesus 
with  twenty  ships  in  command  of  the  Hellenic  forces ; 
thirty  Athenian  ships  and  a  number  of  the  allies  sailed 
with  him.  They  first  made  an  expedition  against  Cyprus, 
of  which  they  subdued  the  greater  part;  and  afterwards 
against  Byzantium,  which  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Persians, 
and  was  taken  while  he  was  still  in  command "  ( Thucyd., 
c.  94).  This  was  probably  in  478,  just  after  the  successful 
rebuilding  of  the  walls  of  Athens  (Themistocles,  c.  xix.). 
Aristides  was  probably  in  command  of  the  Athenian  contin- 
gent. For  the  biography  of  this  hero  the  events  of  479 
were  not  so  useful  as  for  that  of  Themistocles,  though  the 
words  of  Thucydides  show  us  that  both  were  engaged  in 
the  great  stratagem  which  secured  the  fortification  of  Athens 
(see  the  notes  on  TJiemistocles,  xix.  1).  Cimon  was  already 
being  pushed  forward  into  prominence  by  both  Aristides 
and  the  Spartans,  in  order  to  offset  the  influence  of  Themis- 
tocles (see  the  last  note  on  Themistocles,  xx.). 

Offensive  and  severe  to  the  allies :  "  He  had  already 
begun  to  be  oppressive,  and  the  allies  were  offended  with 
him,  especially  the  lonians  and  others  who  had  been  re- 
cently emancipated  from  the  King.  So  they  had  recourse 
to  their  kinsmen  the  Athenians  and  begged  them  to  be  their 
leaders,  and  to  protect  them  against  Pausanias,  if  he  at- 
tempted to  oppress  them.  The  Athenians  took  the  matter 
up  and  prepared  to  interfere,  being  fully  resolved  to  manage 


320  NOTES  ON  THE   ARISTIDES        [XXIII.  l- 

the  confederacy  in  their  own  way.  In  the  meantime  the 
Lacedaemonians  summoned  Pausanias  to  Sparta,  intending 
to  investigate  certain  reports  which  had  reached  them ; 
for  he  was  accused  of  numerous  crimes  by  Hellenes  return- 
ing from  the  Hellespont,  and  appeared  to  exercise  his  com- 
mand more  after  the  fashion  of  a  tyrant  than  of  a  general 
His  recall  occurred  at  the  very  time  when  the  hatred  which 
he  inspired  had  induced  the  allies,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Peloponnesians,  to  transfer  themselves  to  the  Athenians" 
(Thucyd.,  c.  95). 

XXIII.  2.  According  to  the  careful  story  of  Thucydides 
(L  128-134),  giving  the  details  of  the  treason  and  death 
of  Pausanias,  he  had  entered  into  communication  with  the 
Persian  King  shortly  after  the  capture  of  Byzantium.  "  He 
had  already  acquired  a  high  reputation  among  the  Hellenes 
when  in  command  at  Plateea,  and  now  he  was  so  great  that 
he  could  no  longer  contain  himself  or  live  like  other  men. 
As  he  marched  out  of  Byzantium  he  wore  Persian  apparel. 
On  his  way  through  Thrace  he  was  attended  by  a  body- 
guard of  Medes  and  Egyptians,  and  he  had  his  table  served 
after  the  Persian  fashion.  He  could  not  conceal  his  ambi- 
tion, but  indicated  by  little  things  the  greater  designs  which 
he  was  meditating.  He  made  himself  difficult  of  access, 
and  displayed  such  a  violent  temper  towards  everybody  that 
no  one  could  come  near  him ;  and  this  was  one  of  the  chief 
reasons  why  the  confederacy  transferred  themselves  to  the 
Athenians"  (Thucyd.,  c.  130). 

There  is  an  incomplete  historical  romance  of  Walter 
Savage  Lander's,  called  "  Pausanias,"  which  is  based  on  these 
testimonies. 

XXIII.  3.  Especially  the  Chians,  Samians,  and  Les- 
bians :  according  to  Aristotle  (Constitution  of  Athens,  xxiv.  1, 
cited  in  part  in  the  note  on  c.  xxii.  1),  these  were  the  only 
allies  whom  Athens  did  not  treat  imperiously  from  the 
start.  All  three  subsequently  revolted  from  Athens :  Samos 
in  440,  Lesbos  in  428,  and  Chios  in  412.  The  first  two 
were  reduced  to  subjection  like  the  smaller  allies,  and  Chios 
was  attacked  and  much  harassed.. 


-XXIV.  i]        NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  321 

To  Aristides :  the  "  Athenians "  of  Thucydides  is  nar- 
rowed down  by  late  biographical  tradition  to  Aristides, 
exactly  as  in  the  story  of  Platsea  by  Herodotus. 

XXIII.  4.  This  paragraph  can  hardly  be  regarded  as 
historical.  Its  details  were  probably  taken  by  Plutarch 
from  Idomeneus.  They  cannot  be  traced  even  to  the  rhe- 
torical version  of  the  Thucydidean  story  which  Diodorus 
(Ephoras)  gives,  and  are  probably  lively  inventions.  See  the 
elaborate  note  of  Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte,  iii.  p.  32  ff. 
But  even  here  Plutarch  gives  a  composite  result,  and  the 
next  paragraph  especially  betrays  his  blending  touch. 

XXIII.  5.   The  lofty  wisdom  of  Sparta :  far  different  is 
the  tone  of  Thucydides  :  "  On  arriving  at  Lacedaemon  "  (con- 
tinuing the  citation  in  the  note  on  §  1),  "he  was  punished 
for  the  wrongs  which  he  had  done  to  particular  persons,  but 
he  had  been  also  accused  of  conspiring  with  the  Persians, 
and  of  this,  which  was  the  principal  charge  and  was  gene- 
rally believed  to  be  proven,  he  was  acquitted.     The  govern- 
ment, however,  did  not  continue  him  in  his  command,  but 
sent  in  his  place  Dorcis  and  certain  others  with  a  small 
force.     To  these  the  allies  refused   allegiance,  and   Dorcis, 
seeing  the  state  of  affairs,  returned  home.     Henceforth  the 
Lacedaemonians  sent  out  no  more  commanders,  for  they  were 
afraid  that  those  whom  they  appointed  would  be  corrupted, 
as  they  had  found  to  be  the  case  with  Pausanias ;  they  had 
had  enough  of  the  Persian  War ;  and  they  thought  that  the 
Athenians  were  fully  able  to  lead,  and  at  that  time  believed 
them  to  be  their  friends."     The  last  sentence  is  significant 
in  its  bearing  on  the  question  of  the  gradual  decline,  from 
this  time  on,  of  the  influence   of   Themistocles.     Sparta's 
hatred  toward  him  for  his  great  deception  of   her  in  the 
matter  of  the  Athenian  walls  threw  her  into  alliance  with 
and  friendly  support  of  Aristides  and  Cimon,  his  political 
rivals. 

XXIV.  Compare  Thucydides,  L  96  ;  Diodorus  (Ephorus) 
xi.  47 ;  Aristotle,   Constitution  of  Athens,  xxiii.  5 :  Nepos, 
Aristides,  iiL 

21 


322  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES         [XXIV.  1- 

XXIV.  1.  Asked  the  Athenians  for  Aristides:  in  the  mat- 
ter of  the  assessment  of  the  tribute  for  the  Confederacy  of 
Delos,  as  in  the  story  of  the  battles  at  Plataea,  the  historical 
tradition  has  constantly  tended  to  exalt  more  and  more  the 
individual  services  of  Aristides.  The  earliest  testimony, 
that  of  Thucydides,  is  general  in  its  tone,  and  does  not  men- 
tion the  name  of  Aristides.  "  Thus  the  Athenians  by  the 
good-will  of  the  allies,  who  detested  Pausanias,  obtained  the 
leadership.  They  immediately  fixed  which  of  the  cities 
should  supply  money  and  which  of  them  ships  for  the  war 
against  the  Barbarians,  the  avowed  object  being  to  compen- 
sate themselves  and  their  allies  for  their  losses  by  devastat- 
ing the  King's  country.  Then  was  first  instituted  at  Athens 
the  office  of  Hellenic  treasurers  (Helleno-Tamiai),  who  re- 
ceived the  tribute,  for  so  the  impost  was  termed.  The  amount 
was  originally  fixed  at  460  talents.  The  island  of  Delos  was 
the  treasury,  and  the  meetings  of  the  allies  were  held  in  the 
temple  "  (L  96).  In  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  422-1  between 
Athens  and  Sparta,  there  is  this  clause :  "  The  said  cities 
shall  be  independent,  but  shall  pay  the  tribute  which  was 
fixed  in  the  time  of  Aristides "  (v.  18,  5). 

Ephorus  (Diodorus,  XL  47,  2)  ascribes  the  plan  and  its 
accomplishment  to  Aristides  alone ;  otherwise  he  reproduces 
the  testimony  of  Thucydides  in  rhetorical  form.  Aristotle, 
in  the  Constitution  of  Athens,  xxiii.  5,  following  an  oligarchi- 
cal and  anti-democratic  source,  says :  "  Aristides  was  the  one 
who  induced  the  revolt  of  the  lonians  from  the  Lacedae- 
monian alliance,  observing  that  the  Spartans  were  in  dis- 
repute because  of  Pausanias.  And  so  he  too  was  the  one 
who  imposed  the  first  tributes  on  the  cities,  in  the  third  year 
after  the  sea-fight  at  Salamis,  in  the  archonship  of  Timos- 
thenes  (478-7),  and  he  took  the  oaths  with  the  lonians  to  an 
offensive  and  defensive  alliance,  for  the  ratification  of  which 
they  plunged  the  iron  ingots  in  the  sea."  The  testimony  of 
Nepos  also  is  thoroughly  Thucydidean  except  for  the  promi- 
nence given  to  Aristides,  in  which  he  undoubtedly  is  follow- 
ing Ephorus:  "Quos  (barbaros)  quo  facilius  repellerent,  si 


-XXIV.  3]          NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  323 

forte  bellum  renovare  conarentur,  ad  classis  aedificandas  ex- 
ercitusque  comparandos  quantum  pecuniae  quaeque  civitas 
daret,  Aristides  delectus  est,  qui  constitueret,  eiusque  arbitrio 
quadringena  et  sexagena  talenta  quotannis  Delum  sunt 
collata."  If  Nepos  is  using  Ephorus  here,  he  corrects  him, 
for  Ephorus  gives  560  talents  as  the  amount  of  tribute  at 
first  collected.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  Diodorus  has 
not  correctly  reported  Ephorus  for  us. 

XXIV.  2.  All  her  property  in  his  sole  hands :  delightful 
exaggeration  of  rhetoric.  Originally  many  allies  furnished 
ships  and  not  money. 

The  age  of  Cronus  :  Plutarch  borrows  this  extravagant 
hyperbole  from  his  own  Cimon,  c.  x.,  where,  speaking  of  the 
open-handed  hospitality  of  Cimon,  he  says :  "  He  made  his 
home  a  general  public  office  for  his  fellow-citizens,  and 
allowed  even  the  stranger  to  take  and  use  the  choicest  of  the 
ripened  fruits  on  his  estates,  with  all  the  fair  things  which 
the  seasons  bring,  and  so,  in  a  certain  fashion,  he  restored 
to  human  life  the  fabled  communism  of  the  age  of  Cronus." 

The  men  of  old  :  poets,  like  Hesiod,  who  sings  the  praises 
of  the  golden  age  of  Cronus  in  his  Works  and  Days,  109- 
126. 

XXIV.  3.  Thucydides  says,  etc. :  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war  (431  B.  c.),  "  while  the  Peloponnesians 
were  gathering  at  the  Isthmus,  and  were  still  on  their  way, 
but  before  they  entered  Attica,  Pericles  .  .  .  repeated  his 
previous  advice ;  they  must  prepare  for  war.  .  .  .  The  state 
of  their  finances  was  encouraging :  they  had  on  an  average 
six  hundred  talents  coming  in  annually  from  their  allies,  to 
say  nothing  of  their  other  revenue  "  (ii.  13,  3).  The  talent 
may  be  reckoned  at  about  £235,  or  $1150,  but  the  pur- 
chasing power  of  money  was  several  times  greater  then 
than  it  is  now. 

It  is  probable  that  the  sum  of  460  talents  was  regarded  as 
a  normal  sum,  but  that  under  special  stress  of  war,  even  as 
early  as  454  B.  c.  the  tribute  exacted  might  rise  much  higher, 
and  then  be  reduced  again  to  the  normal  level  The  average 


324  NOTES  ON  THE  ARIS  TIDES         [XXIV.  3- 

amount  between  478  and  426  B.  c.  was  probably  not  far 
from  600  talents,  the  amount  given  by  Thucydides.  The 
orator  Andocides,  in  his  speech  "  On  the  Peace  with  Sparta  " 
(the  "  Peace  of  Nicias,"  422-1  B.  c.,  see  the  note  on  Them. 
xix.  1),  speaks  of  the  annual  tribute  as  amounting  to  more 
than  1200  talents  (§  9),  and  this  sum  might  easily  round 
out  into  Plutarch's  1.300.  The  vexed  subject  of  the  Athenian 
tribute  is  ably  discussed  in  Holm,  History  of  Greece,  ii.  pp. 
222  ff.  and  Busolt,  Griechische  Geschichte,  iii,  pp.  79-82. 

XXIV.  4.   The   source  of  these  anecdotes  is  not  surely 
known.     They  are  clearly  of  late  and  inferential  manufac- 
ture.    It  is,  however,  not  unlikely  that  they  come  from  the 
same  source  as  those  of  iv.  2  and  3,  namely,  Idomeneus,  who 
is  there  mentioned  by  name  as  authority. 

XXV.  1.  Bind  the  Hellenes  by  an  oath  :  the  earliest  au- 
thority for  this  is  Aristotle,  as  cited  in  the  note  on  xxiv.  1. 

Casting  iron  ingots  .  .  .  into  the  sea :  the  significance  of 
the  ceremony  is  plain  from  a  passage  of  Herodotus  (L  165) : 
"After  this  they"  (the  Phocseans  abandoning  their  city) 
"  laid  the  heaviest  curses  on  the  man  who  should  draw  back 
and  forsake  the  armament;  and  having  dropped  a  heavy 
mass  of  iron  into  the  sea,  swore  never  to  return  to  Phocaea 
till  that  mass  reappeared  upon  the  surface." 

From  the  very  altars :  to  add  solemnity  to  the  oath,  as 
the  ballots  were  taken  from  the  altar  of  Poseidon  in  the 
proceedings  described  in  c.  xvii  of  the  Themistocles. 

Lay  the  perjury  to  his  charge  :  malicious  tradition  de- 
lighted to  invent  specimens  of  the  unrighteousness  of  Aris- 
tides,  since  the  dominant  note  in  the  legitimate  tradition 
about  him  was  righteousness.  Benevolent  tradition  also 
invented  many  illustrations  of  his  righteousness,  till  that 
quality  in  his  character  became  almost  exclusive  of  others. 
In  the  same  way,  a  certain  unscrupulous  shrewdness  having 
become  the  dominant  note  in  the  tradition  about  Themis- 
tocles, malicious  and  benevolent  tradition  alike  invented 
illustrations  of  his  masterful  cunning.  But  there  are  dis- 
tinct traces  also  of  traditions  illustrating  his  probity  and 


-XXV.  6]          NOTES  ON   THE  ARIS  TIDES  325 

incorruptibility.  See  the  Themistocles,  v.  4.  Aristotle  (cited 
in  the  note  on  xxiv.  1)  makes  Aristides  plan  the  Athenian 
Confederacy  simply  in  order  that  20,000  Athenians  may  live 
at  the  cost  of  their  allies ! 

XXV.  2.   Theophrastus  :  see  the  Introduction,  p.  41. 

Removing  the  moneys  from  Delos  to  Athens :  the  Athe- 
nian "  tribute-lists  "  show  that  this  removal  was  made  in  the 
year  454-3  B.  c.,  after  Aristides  had  been  dead  several 
years  at  least.  The  concurrence  of  Aristides  in  the  injustice, 
according  to  Theophrastus,  shows  that  this  disciple  of  Aris- 
totle took  the  same  view  as  his  master  of  the  corrupting  influ- 
ence of  Aristides  upon  the  Athenian  democracy  (see  the 
preceding  note).  The  Athenians  could  give  a  plausible 
reason  for  the  removal  in  the  fact  that  the  Persians,  after 
their  great  successes  in  Egypt  (460-455  B.  c.),  threatened 
the  security  of  Delos.  But  the  predominating  motive,  of 
course,  was  the  growth  of  the  imperial  idea.  See  Plu- 
tarch's Pericles,  xii. 

At  the  instance  of  the  Samians :  a  plausible  touch  to  the 
story,  for  the  Samians  were  the  most  powerful  of  the  allies. 

XXV.  3.  Abode  by  his  poverty :  making  all  due  allow- 
ances for  the  distortions  of  historical  tradition,  it  still  seems 
well  established  that  Themistocles  finished  his  political 
career  a  rich  man,  and  Aristides  a  comparatively  poor  man. 
It  does  not  necessarily  follow  from  this,  however,  that 
Themistocles  was  a  peculator,  nor  Aristides  a  perfectly  and 
consistently  righteous  man,  nor  even  that  he  was  buried 
and  his  daughters  married  at  the  public  cost.  In  the  Com- 
parison between  Aristides  and  Cato,  iii.,  Plutarch  urges  that 
while  Cato  was  simply  plain  and  frugal,  Aristides  was  so 
poor  as  to  make  even  his  justice  odious. 

Callias  the  Torchbearer :  see  the  note  on  v.  4. 

XXV.  6.  JEschines  the  Socratic :  see  the  Introduction, 
p.  57. 

Plato  maintains :  see  the  citation  from  the  Gorgias, 
p.  526  A,  in  the  note  on  vi.  1 ;  and  from  the  same  dialogue, 
p.  518  E,  in  the  note  on  the  Them.istocles,  iv.  Jin.  Plutarch 


326  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES         [XXV.  6- 

gives  a  rather  free  version  of  Plato's  sentiments.  In  the 
Gorgias,  p.  517  A,  the  position  is  taken  by  Socrates  that  the 
Athenian  state  has  had  no  good  statesman,  because  they 
were  all  "  thrown  from  their  chariots  "  by  ostracism.  In  the 
Meno,  p.  93,  Plato's  Socrates  holds  that  Themistocles  was 
a  wise  and  good  man,  but  unable  to  teach  his  virtue  even 
to  his  own  son,  exactly  like  Aristides,  Pericles,  and  Thu- 
cydides  the  son  of  Melesias. 

XXV.  7.   This  man  his  foe,  etc. :  ...  see   the  Themis- 
tocles, iii.  1,  2  ;  v.  5,  with  the  notes. 

Came  to  the  same  pass :  i.  e.  was  ostracized ;  see  the  The- 
mistocles, xxii.  2,  with  the  notes. 

Under  accusation  of  treason :  see  the  Themistocles, 
xxiii.,  and  notes. 

XXVI.  1.   Pontus :  by  the  time  of  Xenophon  this  name 
had   come   to   designate   a  territory   in   northeastern  Asia 
Minor  along  the  shore  of  the  Pontus  Euxinus.     In  the  time 
of  Aristides  it  could  not  have  had  this  restricted  meaning. 

Others  at  Athens :  the  tradition  of  death  abroad  while 
in  the  public  service  is  too  definite  and  natural  to  be  an 
invention ;  and  burial  at  home  would  easily  give  rise  to  the 
later  tradition  of  death  at  home. 

Craterus  the  Macedonian :  see  the  Introduction,  p.  40. 

XXVI.  2.  Convicted  of  bribery :  compare  the  story  from 
Idomeneus  in  iv.  2,  3,  and  see  the  note  on  xxv.  1.  To  have 
Aristides  convicted  of  injustice  at  all  is  an  extravagant  trait 
of  malicious  tradition,  but  to  have  him  guilty  of  injustice  in 
the  very  proceeding  from  which  he  won  his  fame  for  justice 
is  clearly  a  mere  tour  de  force.  Plutarch  disposes  of  the 
testimony  with  more  than  his  usual  acumen. 

Regulating  the  tributes :  see  c.  xxiv. 

Fifty  minae :  the  mina  was  a  lump  sum  of  one  hundred 
(100)  drachmas,  or  the  equivalent  hi  monetary  value  of 
£4,  or  $20.  See  the  note  on  "  seventy  mince,"  i  5.  It  is 
purposely  made  a  ridiculously  small  sum  (Miltiades  was 
fined  fifty  talents,  sixty  times  as  much)  to  harmonize  with 
the  later  conception  of  the  poverty  of  Aristides. 


-XXVI.  3]        NOTES   ON  THE  ARISTIDES  327 

Adduce  his  authorities :  other  than  public  documents ; 
historians  for  instance,  or  the  dramatic  writers. 

XXVI.  3.  The  exile  of  Themistocles :  not  the  ostracism. 
See  the  Themistocles,  cc.  xxiii.,  xxiv. 

The  imprisonment  of  Miltiades:  after  his  unfortunate 
expedition  against  Paros  (Herod.,  vi.  132-136).  But  Hero- 
dotus says  nothing  of  any  imprisonment.  Miltiades  was 
tried  for  his  life,  "  on  the  charge  of  having  dealt  deceitfully 
with  the  Athenians.  .  .  .  The  judgment  of  the  people  was 
in  his  favor  so  far  as  to  spare  his  life,  but  for  the  wrong 
he  had  done  them  they  fined  him  fifty  talents.  Soon  after- 
wards his  thigh  completely  gangrened  and  mortified;  and 
so  Miltiades  died,  and  the  fifty  talents  were  paid  by  his  son 
Cimon"  (c.  136).  The  anecdote-mongers  are  careless  of 
legal  procedure.  Athenian  law  did  not  imprison  a  man 
under  sentence  to  pay  a  fine.  The  perversion  can  be  traced 
back  as  far  as  Ephorus  (Diodorus,  x.,  Frag.  29),  who  makes 
Miltiades  die  in  custody,  and  has  it  necessary  for  his  son 
Cimon,  in  order  to  obtain  the  body  of  his  father  for  burial, 
to  surrender  himself  into  custody  and  assume  the  fine  which 
his  father  was  unable  to  pay. 

The  fine  of  Pericles :  alluded  to  also  in  the  Nicias,  c.  vi 
After  the  second  invasion  of  the  Peloponnesians  and  the 
ravages  of  the  plague  at  Athens,  the  Athenians  blamed  Peri- 
cles as  the  author  of  all  their  troubles.  He  defended  him- 
self against  their  unjust  displeasure  hi  the  manner  described 
by  Thucydides  in  ii.  60-64.  But  "  the  popular  indignation 
was  not  pacified  until  they  had  fined  Pericles ;  soon  after- 
wards, however,  with  the  usual  fickleness  of  the  multitude, 
they  elected  him  general  and  committed  all  their  affairs 
to  his  charge "  (c.  65,  3,  4).  The  proceeding  was  probably 
a  technical  one  to  express  lack  of  confidence  in  the  leader- 
ship of  Pericles,  and  did  not  imply  any  malversation  in 
office.  Diodorus  (Ephorus)  puts  the  fine  at  eighty  (80) 
talents  (xii  45,  4) ;  Plutarch  (Pericles,  xxxv.  4)  finds 
authority  for  sums  ranging  from  fifteen  to  fifty  talents. 

The  death  of  Paches  :  Paches  was  the  conqueror  of  Mity- 


328  NOTES   ON   THE  ARISTIDES        (XXVI.  s- 

lene  in  427.  Thucydides  describes  his  expedition  at  great 
length  (iii  18-50),  but  says  nothing  of  his  death.  Nor 
does  Diodorus  (Ephorus),  though  his  account  of  the  subjec- 
tion of  Lesbos  is  somewhat  detailed  (xii.  55).  Plutarch  thus 
speaks  of  his  death  in  the  Nicias  (vi  2) :  "  as  was  manifest  in 
the  fate  of  Paches  the  capturer  of  Lesbos,  who,  while  he  was 
giving  the  official  account  of  his  generalship,  drew  his  sword 
in  the  very  court-room  and  slew  himself."  The  context 
implies  that  the  attitude  of  the  people  drove  Paches  to  the 
fatal  step.  An  epigram  of  Agathias  (floruit  circa  575  A.  D.), 
preserved  in  the  Palatine  Anthology  (vii.  614),  makes  his 
death  due  to  the  testimony  before  the  Athenian  people  of 
two  beautiful  women  of  Mitylene,  Lamaxis  and  Hellanis,  to 
the  effect  that  Paches  had  murdered  then*  husbands  in  order 
to  get  them  into  his  possession  for  base  uses. 

The  ostracism  of  Aristides  :  see  c.  viL 

XXVII.  1.  Moreover :  continuing  the  argument  against 
'Craterus'  story. 

At  Phalerum:  the  deme,  not  the  harbor  of  the  same 
name.  See  i.  1.  Demetrius  of  Phalerum  there  claims  that 
the  estate  in  which  the  tomb  lay  was  the  property  of  Aris- 
tides. The  family  of  Aristides  evidently  became  impover- 
ished, and  tradition  reasoned  from  this  that  Aristides  also 
was  of  notable  poverty.  This  poverty  was  made  to  enhance 
the  exaggerated  estimate  put  upon  his  "justice."  But  the 
poverty  became  so  firmly  fixed  in  tradition  that  Demosthenes, 
Against  Aristocrates  (xxv.),  §  209,  can  speak  rhetorically  of 
Aristides  as  not  richer  by  a  single  drachma  after  his  ad- 
justment of  the  tributes,  and  as  buried  at  the  expense 
of  the  city.  See  the  notes  on  L  3  and  5 ;  Themistocles, 
xxv.  3. 

They  say :  the  current  tradition,  including  such  rhetorical 
allusions  as  that  of  Demosthenes  just  cited. 

His  daughters  married  ...  at  the  public  cost :  this  too 
was  stock  rhetorical  material,  as  we  see  from  ^Eschines' 
On  the  Crown,  §  258,  where  the  same  contrast  between  the 
opportunity  of  Aristides  to  enrich  himself  and  his  actual 


-XXVII.  i]        NOTES   ON  THE  ARIS  TIDES  329 

poverty  is  made  which  Demosthenes  makes.  If  there  was 
no  male  relative  with  legal  authority  over  a  maid,  i.  e.  no 
father,  or  brother,  or  paternal  grandfather,  then  the  state, 
through  the  Archon  Basileus,  assumed  such  legal  author- 
ity, and  "  adjudged "  her  to  the  nearest  male  relative  who 
claimed  to  marry  her.  "If,  owing  to  her  poverty,  there 
was  nothing  to  induce  her  relatives  to  claim  her,  then  the 
nearest  relative  was  compelled  by  law  either  to  dower  her 
(in  which  case  he  probably  became  legally  qualified  to  betroth 
her),  or  to  marry  her  himself  (hi  which  case  a  formal  be- 
trothal was  presumably  unnecessary)."  See  Gardner  and 
Jevons,  Greek  Antiquities,  p.  554.  It  is  difficult  to  suppose 
that  there  was  no  male  relative  of  the  daughters  of  Aristides 
on  whom  the  state  could  call. 

From  the  prytaneium  :  i.  e.  from  the  city  hall,  instead 
of  the  father's  house,  or  the  house  of  her  legal  representative. 
The  state  reared  the  children  of  men  slain  in  her  defence 
(TJiucyd.y  ii  46),  but  there  is  no  evidence  for  such  a  roman- 
tic system  of  pensioning  as  this. 

The  dowry  for  the  marriage  :  "  If  a  man  had  daughters 
as  well  as  sons,  the  daughters  were  morally,  but  not  legally, 
entitled  to  a  dowry  —  from  their  father,  if  they  were  married 
during  his  lifetime ;  from  their  brothers  otherwise."  Gardner 
and  Jevons,  ibid.,  p.  543. 

Three  thousand  drachmas :  half  a  talent,  or  about  $600 
(£118),  a  very  modest  dowry,  as  dowries  went.  A  wife  with- 
out a  dowry  had  inferior  rights  and  privileges. 

Lysimachus  his  son  :  named,  as  the  custom  was,  after  his 
grandfather. 

One  hundred  minae :  about  £400,  or  $2,000. 

As  many  acres  of  land :  in  Euboea,  as  we  learn  from 
Demosthenes,  Against  Leptines  (xx.),  §  115 :  "To  Lysima- 
chus, an  excellent  man  of  olden  time,  they  gave  a  hun- 
dred acres  of  vineyard  land  in  Euboea,  a  hundred  acres 
of  grain  land,  and  further  one  hundred  mince,  and  four 
drachmas  per  diem.  These  things  are  recorded  in  a  decree 
of  Alcibiades." 


330  NOTES   ON   THE  ARTS TIDES       [XXVII.  2- 

XXVII.  2.  According  to  Callisthenes :  see  the  Introduc- 
tion, p.  58. 

A  public  maintenance :  "  Like  the  family  and  the  phratria, 
so  the  city  too  had  a  common  hearth  and  a  common  table. 
Both  were  in  the  prytaneium.  There  daily  dined  certain 
persons  selected  to  represent  the  city  —  magistrates  or  dis- 
tinguished men.  At  Athens  those  wno  won  a  victory  at  the 
Olympic  games  had  the  right  thereafter  to  a  public  main- 
tenance in  the  prytaneium"  (Gardner  and  Jevons,  Greek 
Antiquities,  p.  198).  Callisthenes  can  hardly  have  claimed 
for  Polycrite*  a  public  maintenance  with  the  Olympic  victors, 
in  the  Prytaneium,  but  one  at  public  cost,  like  theirs. 

Demetrius  .  .  .  Panaetius:  these  are  the  two  writers 
whom  Plutarch  has  actually  consulted ;  he  finds  in  them,  or 
perhaps  only  in  Panaetius,  the  other  three  authorities  whom 
he  here  names  duly  cited.  See  the  Introduction,  pp.  57  f. 

On  Nobility  of  Birth :  this  writing  has  not  been  preserved, 
and  is  not  classed  as  a  genuine  work  by  modern  scholars. 

Another  woman :  Xanthippe,  of  course,  who  would  cer- 
tainly have  made  it  uncomfortable  for  Myrto,  even  taking 
the  mildest  estimate  of  her  character.  Neither  Plato  nor 
Xenophon,  the  disciples  of  Socrates,  know  anything  of  any 
wife  of  his  other  than  Xanthippe.  Diogenes  Laertius  (second 
or  third  century  A.  D.),  in  his  work  on  the  lives  of  the  phi- 
losophers, has  the  following  (ii.  5,  10)  :  "  Aristotle  says  that 
Socrates  had  two  wives :  first,  Xanthippe,  by  whom  he  had 
Lamprocles;  and  second,  Myrto,  the  daughter  of  Aristides 
the  Just,  whom  he  took  without  a  dowry,  and  by  whom  he 
had  Sophroniscus  and  Menexenus.  Some  say  he  married 
Myrto  first,  and  some  that  he  had  both  at  the  same  time.  So 
Satyrus,  and  Hieronymus  the  Rhodian.  These  say  that  the 
Athenians,  desiring  to  increase  the  number  of  citizens,  which 
had  become  small,  voted  that  a  man  might  many  one  wife 
from  among  the  citizens,  and  beget  children  by  another ;  and 
therefore  Socrates  did  so."  But  the  testimony  is  too  late  and 
contradictory  to  have  any  weight,  nor  do  we  hear  elsewhere 
of  any  such  vote  at  Athens  to  repair  the  ravages  of  the  war. 


-XXVII.  4]        NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES  331 

XXVII.  3.  A  grandson :  literally,  a  daughter's  son,  but 
this  is  clearly  a  chronological  impossibility.  Aristides  died 
about  468  B.  c.,  and  Demetrius  was  regent  for  Cassander  at 
Athens  317-307  B.C.  The  word  translated  grandson  may 
have  had,  as  Demetrius  used  it,  the  more  general  meaning  of 
descendant  on  the  daughter's  side.  But  Plutarch  has  evidently 
changed  the  testimony  of  Demetrius,  whatever  it  was,  so  as 
to  make  it  apply  to  the  two  daughters  of  Aristides  whom 
the  state  married  off  (§  1). 

Dream-interpreting  tablet :  Lysimachus  was  a  profes- 
sional interpreter  of  dreams.  The  fees  of  these  experts  were 
forlornly  small,  judging  from  a  passage  in  Aristophanes, 
Wasps,  52  f.,  where  two  drowsy  slaves  are  telling  one  an- 
other their  portentous  dreams,  and  one  says : 

"  Shall  I  not  pay  two  obols  then,  and  hire 
One  who  so  cleverly  interprets  dreams  ?  "     (Rogers.) 

The  so-called  laccheium :  such  a  temple  of  lacchus  (Di- 
onysus, Bacchus)  is  conjectured  in  what  Pausanias  (L  2, 4), 
entering  Athens  by  the  great  Dipylum  gate  on  the  north- 
west, calls  a  temple  of  Demeter.  "  Hard  by  is  a  temple 
of  Demeter  with  images  of  the  goddess,  her  daughter,  and 
lacchus,  who  is  holding  a  torch."  So  Mr.  Frazer,  in  his  note 
ad  loc.,  and  he  adds :  "  The  place  was  indeed  a  favorite 
resort  of  dream-interpreters,  who  sat  here  with  then*  boards 
in  front  of  them  and  charged  two  drachms  for  a  consultation. 
These  fellows  would  naturally  choose  some  frequented 
thoroughfare  in  which  to  ply  their  trade,  and  there  was 
probably  no  busier  street  in  Athens  than  the  one  which  led 
from  the  Dipylum  to  the  market-place."  The  fee  of  "  two 
drachms,"  however,  was  an  extraordinary  fee  on  a  special 
occasion,  to  secure  a  specially  difficult  interpretation.  The 
recognized  charge  was  two  obols.  See  the  passage  cited 
from  Aristophanes  in  the  preceding  note. 

XXVII.  4.  Aristogeiton :  with  Harmodius  popularly  sup- 
posed to  have  slain  Hipparchus,  the  son  of  Pisistratus,  and 
so  to  have  put  an  end  to  the  tyranny.  In  reality  their  deed 


332  NOTES  ON  THE  ARISTIDES         [XXVII.  4. 

only  made  the  tyranny  of  Hippias,  the  brother  of  Hipparchus, 
all  the  harsher.  See  Herodotus,  v.  55 ;  Thucydides,  vi  54- 
58.  Their  exploit,  unsuccessful  as  it  was,  nevertheless 
passed  into  popular  legend  as  gloriously  successful,  and  be- 
came the  theme  for  patriotic  song.  Their  descendants  also 
were  highly  honored. 

Potamus :  a  deme  of  the  Leontid  tribe. 

Lemnos  :  an  Athenian  possession,  and  occupied  by  Athe- 
nian settlers  ever  since  the  time  of  Miltiades.  For  its  con- 
quest, see  Herodotus,  vL  137-140. 

Even  in  my  own  day :  the  biography  closes,  like  the  The- 
mistocles,  with  an  affectionate  allusion  to  Plutarch's  student 
days  at  Athens. 


INDEX 


INDEX 

Full-faced  numerals  refer  to  pages  of  the  Lives  ;  the  others 
to  the  Introduction  and  Notes.  ^References  to  the  Lives 
usually  cover  the  explanatory  matter  of  the  Notes  also. 


A. 

Abrotonon,  mother  of  Themistocles, 
73 

Acestodorus,  of  Megalopolis  (?),  43, 
92 

Acharnae,  Attic  deme,  107,  145 

Achilles,  his  prayer,  135 

Adeimantus,  Archon  Eponymous,  80 

,  Corinthian  captain,  195,  202  f. 

Admetus,  king  of  the  Molossians, 
106  f. 

JEacidse,  from  JEgina,  95 

^Eantid  tribe,  at  Plataea,   156 

./Egae,  refuge  of  Themistocles  in 
^Eolia,  109 

./Egina,  war  with,  77  f . ;  apparitions 
from,  95 ;  gets  prize  of  valor  at 
Salarnis,  97 ;  seeks  to  prevent  forti- 
fication of  Athens,  100 ;  Aristides 
comes  to  Salamis  from,  136 

.Elian,  201,  225,  227 

JEschines,  the  orator,  37,  328  f. 

of  Lamptrse,  145 

the  Socratic,  57, 166 

^schylus,  30,  55, 57,  213  f.,  271,  280 ; 
cited,  93,  128 

Agesias,  of  Acharnse,  145 

Agraule,  Attic  deme,  105 

Alalcomenius,  Boeotian  month,  159 

Alcibiades,  and  Nicias,  134 ;  his  bill 
for  the  relief  of  the  daughters  of 
Aristides,  168 

Alcimus,  promontory  of  Piraeus,  119 

Alcmeon,  father  of  Leobotes,  105 ; 
prosecutor  of  Themistocles,  166 


Alexander,  the  Great,  rewards  Pla- 

taeans,  143 

,  the    Macedonian,   night   mes- 
sage   to    the   Greeks    at  Plataea, 

147  f. 

Alexandrian  school  of  biography,  66  f . 
Aliens,  73,  174f. 
Alopece",  Attic  deme,  118,  123 
Ameinias,  the  Deceleian,  94 
Ammonius,    Plutarch's    teacher    at 

Athens,  119,  204 
Amompharetus,    mutinous    Spartan 

captain,  151 

Amphiaraiis,  the  seer,  128,  155 
Amphicrates,  the  rhetorician,  175 
Amphictyonic  conventions,  102 
Amphitrope,  Attic  deme,  167 
Amyot,  his  translation  of  Plutarch's 

Lives,  18,  21. 

Anaxagoras,  the  philosopher,  75 
Andocides,  the  orator,  37, 118  f .,  230 
Andrians,    reply    to    Themistocles, 

102  f. 
Audrocrates,   hero  of  Plataea,    141, 

143 

Androtion,  Atthis-writer,  39 
Anecdote,  historical  worth,  15f.,  188, 

201  f. 

Antiochis,  the  tribe,  123,  131 
Antagoras,  the  Chian,  162 
Antiphates,  the  faded  beauty,  98 
Antiphon,  the  orator,  37 
Aphetae,  harbor  of  Thessaly,  83 
Apollo,  Daphnephoros,  95 

,  the  Ptoan,  155 

Archeptolis,  son  of  Themistocles,  118 


336 


INDEX 


Archestratos,  the  poet,  123  f . 

Archippe,  wife  of  Themistocles,  118 

Architeles,  Athenian  captain,  83 

Archon  Eponymous,  123,  132 

Areiopagus,  Senate  of,  87 

Argos,  Themistocles'  sojourn  at,  105 

Ariamenes,  Persian  admiral,  94 

Arimanius,  Ahriman,  112 

A ri in ncs!  us,  Plataean  general,  142 

,  slayer  of  Mardonius,  155 

Aristides,  in  the  Persians  of  ^Eschylus, 
30,  190,  279  ;  in  the  Persian  Ware, 
49  ff. ;  at  Marathon,  50  f.,  61, 130  f., 
181  f.;  in  Herodotus,  50 f.;  in  Thu- 
cydides,  50  f . ;  his  opposition  to 
Themistocles,  51,  125  f.,  127  ;  mag- 
nanimity at  Salamis,  51, 91  f.,  136  ; 
his  name  not  synonymous  either 
with  Salamis  or  Plataea,  51,  54  f. ; 
co-operation  in  ruses  of  Themis- 
tocles, 53,  55 ;  in  the  transfer  of  the 
leadership,  54  f .,  63, 161  f . ;  his  real 
character  and  ability,  55  f.,  60 ;  his 
"  assessment "  of  the  allies,  56, 
163  f. ;  last  years,  56  ;  paucity  of 
tradition  concerning  his  life,  60 ; 
surname  of  "The  Just,"  61,  132, 
135;  contrasted  with  Themisto- 
cles, 76  f . ;  ostracized,  80,  133  f. ; 
restored,  88  f.,  135  f. ;  restrains 
Theraistocles  from  pursuing  Xer- 
xes, 96, 138  ;  judges  the  incendiary 
proposition  of  Themistocles,  102, 
161 ;  praised  by  Timocreon,  103 ; 
his  birth  and  substance,  123 ;  choral 
victories,  123 ;  friend  of  Cleis- 
theues,  125 ;  admirer  of  Lycurgus, 
125 ;  solitary  walk  in  politics,  126 ; 
steadfast  constancy  and  justice, 
128;  Treasurer  of  State,  129; 
Archon  Eponymous,  132 ;  exploit 
at  Salamis,  137  f. ;  answers  Mar- 
donius and  the  Lacedaemonians, 
139  f. ;  rebukes  Lacedaemonians 
for  faithlessness,  140 ;  Athenian 
general  at  Plataea,  141 ;  gets 
an  oracle  from  Delphi,  141  f . ; 
rebukes  the  Tegeans,  143  f . ; 
quells  oligarchical  conspiracy, 
144 f.;  aids  the  Megarians,  146; 
summoned  by  Alexander  of  Mace- 
don,  147  f . ;  persuades  Athenians 


to  exchange  wings  with  Lacede- 
monians, 149  f . ;  general  peace- 
maker, 157 ;  proposes  annual 
assembly  at  Plataea,  and  quad- 
rennial festival  games,  159 ;  gives 
Athens  more  democratic  govern- 
ment, 160 ;  general  with  Cimon, 
161  f . ;  plain  speech  with  Themis- 
tocles, 164;  perjury,  164;  con- 
nivance at  injustice,  165 ;  story 
of  his  poverty,  165  f . ;  praised  by 
Plato,  166 ;  his  kindness  to  Themis- 
tocles, 166  f . ;  his  death,  167  ;  con- 
viction for  bribery,  167 ;  his  tomb, 
168. 

Aristogeiton,  the  tyrannicide,  169 

Ariston  of  Ceos,  41,  57,  76,  126 

Aristophanes,  the  poet,  36,  46,  101, 
177,  204,  228,  256 

Aristotle,  and  the  Peripatetic  school, 
40  f.,  65  f. ;  on  the  Areiopagus,  87  ; 
on  the  Samian  war,  179;  on  the 
Dionysiac  contests,  190;  his  Consti- 
tution of  Athens,  39,  40,  41,  66,  184, 
191,  201,  237,  268,  318,  320,  322 

— -(Psendo-),  "On  Nobility  of 
Birth,"  57,  168 

Aristoxenus,  the  musician,  57  f.,  65, 
168 

Arnaces,  messenger  of  Themistocles, 
96,  138 

Arrian,  the  historian,  15,  290 

Artabanus,  the  Chiliarch,  110 

Artabazus,  escapes  from  Plataea,  155 

Artaxerxes,  110 

Artayctns,  93 

Artemis,  AristobouM,  104 

,  Eucleia,  158  f . 

,  Prosenea,  84 

Artemisia,  94 

Artemisium,  27,  82,  83  ff . 

Arthmius  of  Zeleia,  81 

Asia,  daughter  of  Themistocles,  118 

Asopns,  river  near  Plataea,  141 

Athena,  her  contest  with  Poseidon, 
101 ;  her  sanctuary  at  Plataea,  157 

Athenians,  on  the  retreat  from  Arte- 
misinm,  85  ;  beg  allies  to  defend 
Attica,  86 ;  abandonment  of  Athens, 
86  ff . ;  treatment  of  Themistocles, 
98  f .  ;  dispute  with  the  Tegeans, 
143  f.  ;  oligarchical  conspiracy, 


INDEX 


337 


144  f . ;  incensed  at  Pausanias,  149  ; 
conflict  with  Thebaus  at  Plattea, 
154;  capture  of  Persian  camp,  155 

Athens,  sung  by  Pindar,  30,  84 

Atthides,  39 

B. 

Barathrum,  127 

Biographical  method  of  studying  his- 
tory, 1  f. 

Biography  before  Plutarch,  64  ff. 
Boat-races,  262 

Boedromion,  Attic  month,  156 
Byzantium,  162 

c. 

Callias,  the  Torch-bearer,  131, 165 

Callicrates,  fairest  of  the  Greeks, 
152 

Callisthenes,  the  historian,  58,  168 

Chaeroneia,  home  of  Plutarch,  5 

Chameleon,  of  Heracleia,  189 

Charon,  of  Lampsacus,  34,  39,  43, 
110,  239 

Chians,  162 

Cheileos,  the  Arcadian,  81 

Chileus,  the  Tegean,  285 

Choregus,  80,  123 

Cilicia,  117 

Ciinon,  in  league  with  Sparta  and 
Aristides  against  Themistocles,  31, 
32,  54 ;  in  the  transfer  of  the  hege- 
mony, 54 f.;  independent  of  Aris- 
tides and  victorious  over  The- 
mistocles, 56 ;  at  Olympia,  79 ;  has 
Epicrates  put  to  death  for  aiding 
Themistocles,  107 ;  his  mastery  of 
the  sea,  117  ;  envoy  to  Sparta,  141 ; 
general  with  Aristides,  161 ;  Plato's 
judgment  on,  166  ;  persecutes  The- 
mistocles, 166  f. ;  pays  his  father's 
fine,  229 

Cithaeron,  142  f . 

Cleocritns,  the  Corinthian,  137, 157 

Cleisthenes,  125,  174 

Cleophantus,  son  of  Themistocles,  118 

Clidemus,  39,  57,  87,  156 

Clitarchus,  43,  110 

Clubs,  political,  270 

Comedy,  old  Attic,  35,  46 

3  , 


Comparisons,  in  biography,  67  f. ;  in 

Plutarch's  Lives,  173 
Corey  ra,  106 
Corinthians,  abused    by   Simouides, 

80 ;    their  dispute  with    Corcyra, 

106 ;    rank   next  to   Sparta    and 

Athens,  157 
Crater  us,  the  Macedonian,  11,  40,  57, 

167 

Crito,  creditor  of  Socrates,  125 
Cronus,  the  age  of,  163 
Cyme',  108 
Cynegeirus,  213  f. 
Cynosarges,  73 
Cyprus,  117 

D. 

Damon,  teacher  of  Pericles,  125 

Darius,  26,  27, 130 

Datis,  130 

Demaratus,  the  Spartan,  114 

Deme,  73,  174 

Demeter  and  Cora,  141  f . 

Demetrius  of  Phalerum,  58,  123  f., 

132,  168 

Demopolis,  son  of  Themistocles,  119 
Demosthenes,  37,  192,  209,  329 
Dindymene,  116 
Dinon,  of  Colophon,  43,  110 
Diocles,  son  of  Themistocles,  118 
Diodorus  Siculus,  38 
Diodorus  the  Topographer,  40,  119 
Dion  of  Syracuse,  124 
Dionysus,  precinct  of,  at  Athens,  123 
Dionysus  Carnivorous,  93,  137 
Diophantus,  prosecutor  of  Aristides, 

167 

Dithyramb,  at  Athens,  267 
Dodonsean  Zeus,  oracle  of,  112 
Dog's  Mound,  on  Salamis,  88 
Doris,  85 
Dowry,  168 
Drachma,  200 
Duris,  of  Samos,  42  £. 


E. 

Eeteoneia,  260  f . 
Egypt,  revolt  of,  27,  117 
Eleusis,  portents  from,  95,  142 
Eleutheria,  159 


338 


INDEX 


Epaminondas,  124,  173 

Ephesus,  245 

Ephors,  140 

Ephorus,  37  f.,  59,  65,  110,  192,  205, 
220,  225,  243,  246,  286  ff. 

Epicrates,  of  Acharnae,  107 

Epicycles,  bought  off  by  Themistocles, 
11 

Epirus,  refuge  of  Themistocles,  106 

Epixyes,  plots  against  the  life  of  The- 
mistocles, 115 

Eratosthenes,  of  Gyrene,  43  f.,  67,  111 

Eretria,  25,  26,  111 

Eretrian,  the,  90 

Ergoteles,  lies  iu  wait  for  Themis- 
tocles, 108  f . 

Eualcidas,  sung  by  Simonides,  29  f. 

Eubceaus,  send  money  to  Themis- 
tocles, 83 

Euchidas,  the  runner,  158 

Eucleides,  archoii,  124 

Euphrantides,  the  seer,  93,  137 

Eurybiades,  the  Spartan,  82,  83,  89, 
97,  136  f. 

Euterpe,  name  of  Themistocles' 
mother,  73 

F. 

Festival-day,  fable  of,  99 
Five-hundred-bushelers,  123 
Flute,  the   national    instrument   of 
Bceotia,  267 

G. 

General  with  sole  powers,  136,  141, 

191 

Gorgon's  head,  88 
Gymnasia,  175 

H. 

Ilalicarnassus,  73,  214 
Harmamaxa,  246  f . 
Hellanicus,  of  Lesbos,  34,  39,  239 
Hera,  the  Cithacronian,  141,  153 
Heracleides  Ponticus,  42,  110 
Heracles,  an  alien  god,  73  ;  158 
Heracleium,  near  Salamis,  92 
II era- u in,  at  PI  at  sea,  153 
Hermes  Terrestrial,  160 


Herodotus,  33  f.,   56  f.,  62,  83,  97, 

102,  148,  156 
Hiero,  of  Syracuse,  107  f . 
Hieronymus,  the  Khodiau,  59,  168 
Hippias,  26,  332 

Hyacinthia,  Spartan  festival,  140 
Hyperbolus,  his  ostracism,  134 
Hysiae,  142 

I. 

lacchus,  95 

Jaccheium,  at  Athens,  169 
lalysos,  city  of  Rhodes,  103 
Idomeneus,  of  Lampsacus,  20,  42,  57, 

62,  67  f.,  125,  129,141,  181 
Ion,  of  Chios,  31  f.,  177 
lonians,  appealed  to  by  Themistocles, 

85 

Isocrates,  37,  67 

Isthmus,  of  Corinth,  86,  97,  103 
Italia,  daughter  of  Themistocles,  118 

J. 

Justice,  philosophy  of,  132f. 

L. 

Laccopluti,  "  Pit-wealthies,"  132 

Lacedaemonians,  honor  Themisto- 
cles, 97 ;  at  Amphictyonic  conven- 
tion, 102 ;  favor  Cimon,  102 ;  pursue 
Themistocles  with  charges  of  trea- 
son, 106  f. ;  send  embassy  to 
Athens,  139;  their  attack  at 
Plataea,  153  f . ;  inability  to  storm 
Persian  camp,  155.  See  Spartans. 

Lamprias,  Plutarch's  grandfather, 
17  f. 

Lampsacus,  115 

Lamptrse,  Attic  deme,  145 

Laureium,  silver  mines,  77  f . 

Lemnos,  169 

Leobotes,  prosecutor  of  Themisto- 
cles, 105 

Leocrates,  Athenian  general,  157 

Leonidas,  85,  209 

Leoutis,  the  tribe,  73,  131 

Lesbians,  162 

Leto,  hates  Themistocles,  103 

Leucas,  common  colony  of  Corinth 
and  Corcyra,  106 


INDEX 


339 


Lentichidas,  103 

Lincoln,  personal  anecdote  of,  14,  16 
Lion's  Head,  in  Phrygia,  115 
Lycomedes,  first  to  capture  a  Persian 

ship  at  Salamis,  95 
Lycomidae,  priestly  family,  73  f . 
Lycurgus,  admired  by  Aristides,  125 
Lydians,  procession  of  the,  152  f. 
Ly sander,  father-in-law  of  Themis- 

tocles,  118 
Lysimachus,   father     of     Aristides, 

123  f.,  165 

,  son  of  Aristides,  168 

,  grandson  of  Aristides,  169 

M. 

Magian  lore,  114 

Magnesia,  28,  115-119 

Maimacteriou,  Attic  month,  159 

Marathon,  26,  28,   130, 149  f. 

Mardonius,  26  f .,  79,  97,  132 ;  writes 
threatening  letters  to  the  Hellenes, 
138 f.;  invades  Attica,  140;  har- 
asses Greeks  with  cavalry,  145 ; 
determines  to  attack,  147  ;  changes 
wings,  150;  attacks  in  full  force, 
151  f.;  is  slain,  155,  306 

Masistius,  Persian  savalry  com- 
mander, 146  f. 

Megarians,  sore  pressed  by  Persian 
cavalry,  145  f. 

Melissus,  of  Samos,  75 

Melite,  ward  of  Athens,  104 

Mencetius,  158 

Miltiades,  26,  28;  opposes  naval 
policy  of  Themistocles,  78;  130, 
150,  167,  192 

Mina,  200,  269 

Mithraustes,  rebukes  Demaratus,  114 

Mnesiphilus,  75 

Mnesiptolema,  daughter  of  Themis- 
tocles, 115  f.,  118 

Molossians,  106  f . 

Mother  of  the  Gods,  115  f. 

Myronides,  141,  157 

Myrto,  wife  of  Heracles,  158 

— — ,  granddaughter  of  Aristides, 
168 

Mys,  the  Europian,  307  f. 

My  us,  a  city  assigned  to  Themisto- 
cles, 115 


N. 

Naxos,  siege  of,  108 

Neauthes,  of  Cyzicus,  44,  66,  73,  115 

Neocles,  father  of  Themistocles,  73 

,  son  of  Themistocles,  118  f. 

Nepos,  20,  242,  249,  251, 256,  272,  278, 
322 

Nicagoras,  of  Trcezen,  87 

Nicomache,  daughter  of  Themisto- 
cles, 118 

Nicias,  and  Alcibiades,  134 

Nicogenes,  host  of  Themistocles,  109, 
112 

Nicomedes,  of  Athens,  118 

North,  Sir  Thomas,  18,  21  f. 

Nymphs,  the  Sphragitic,  141  f.,  156 

o. 

Obeisance,  111 

Obol,  200 

Olbius,  pedagogue  of  Nicogenes,  109 

Oligarchical  conspiracy  at  Plataea, 
144  f. 

Olizon,  opposite  Artemisium,  84 

Olympia,  79,  97,  189 

Olympiodorus,  sent  to  aid  the  Mega- 
rians, 146 

Oracle  of  the  "  wooden  wall,"  87 

of  Aristides  at  Platsea,  141  ff. 

Orators,  testimony  concerning  The- 
mistocles, 37 

Ostracism,  object  of,  104  f.,  134 ; 
persons  liable  to,  123  f.  ;  procedure 
in,  134  ff.,  191 

Ostrakon,  135 

Owl,  omen  of,  at  Salamis,  90 


P. 

Paches,  suicide  of,  167  f. 

Pagasse,  101 

Palaescepsis,  115 

Panaetius,  the  Stoic,  59,  124,  168 

Panemus,  Boeotian  month,  156 

Panthoides,  the  Chian,  118 

Parallelism,  in  Plutarch's  Lives,  60 

Patroclus,  158 

Pausanias,  27  f. ;  victor  of  Platasa, 
52;  in  Timocreon's  song,  103;  his 
treason  and  death,  105  ;  command- 


IXDEX 


er-in-chief  at  Platsea,  141 ;  sends 
aid  to  the  Megarians,  145  f . ;  learus 
the  message  of  Alexander,  148  ;  ex- 
changes wings  with  the  Athenians, 
148-50 ;  reasons  with  Amompha- 
rctus,  151  ;  forgets  to  give  signal 
f«r  lattle,  151  f. ;  his  sacrifice  and 
prayer,  152  f. ;  severity  toward  his 
allies,  161  f . ;  his  trireme  run  down, 
162 

Pelagon,  of  JEgina,  83 

Pelopidas,  124,  209 

Peloponnesus,  to  be  defended  from 
Persia,  86 

Peloponnesians,  eager  to  retire  from 
Salamis,  90  f . 

Pentacosiomedimni,  123 

Percote,  city  assigned  to  The- 
inisNx-les,  115 

Pericles,  tradition  of  his  fiscal  joke, 
16 f.;  opposed  by  Melissus,  75;  in- 
timate with  Anaxagoras,  75 ;  in- 
creases tribute,  163  ;  Plato's  judg- 
ment on,  166  ;  his  fine,  167 

Peripatetic  school,  in  biography,  66  f. 

Persian  Wars,  outline  sketch  of,  25  ff. 

Persians,  drama  of  JEsc.hylus,  30, 55, 
93,  205,  207  f.,  211  f.,  280 

Phalerum,  90,  123,  168 

Phauias,  of  Eresos,  41,  66,  68,  73, 
83,  93,  111,  115 

Phani  ppus,  archon,  132 

Phanodemus,  39,  92 

Philides,  the  horse-dealer,  79 

Philochoms,  39  f .,  201 

Philoctetes,  territory  of,  84 

Philotas,  medical  student  at  Alexan- 
dria, 17 

Phlya,  74,  95 

Phocis,  85 

Phrasicles,  nephew  of  Themistocles, 
118 

Phrearrhian,  by  deme,  73  ;  Mnesiph- 
ilus,  the,  75  ;  Themistocles,  the,  80 

Phrygia,  Upper,  115 

Phrynichus,  80 

Phthia,  wife  of  Admetns,  107 

Phylarchus,  44,  67,  119 

Pindar,  30  ;  on  the  Athenians  at  Ar- 
temisium,  84 

Pineus,  fortified  by  Themistocles, 
100  f. 


Pisidians,  115  f. 

Pitana,  the  Pitanate  cohort,  299  f. 

Platsea,  27  f.,  62  f.,  97,  125,  132; 
battles  at,  141-156;  rebuilt  by  order 
of  Alexander,  143  ;  refuge  of  re- 
treating Greek  centre,  150;  festi- 
val of  Eleutheria  at,  159 

Plativans,  the,  26,  28 ;  ancient  digni- 
tarii-s  of,  142  ;  vote  territory  to  the 
Athenians,  143  ;  sacrifice  of  victory, 
156  ;  receive  meed  of  valor,  157  ; 
their  booty,  157 ;  funeral  ceremo- 
nies for  the  dead  in  battle,  159  f. 

Plato,  the  philosopher,  his  estimate 
of  Themistocles,  36  f.;  118,  124, 
166 

,  the  comic  poet,  119 

Plutarch,  his  large  humanity,  2  f. ; 
appeal  to  modern  mind,  3  ;  influ- 
ence of  his  Lives,  3,  24 ;  period  of 
life,  4  ;  his  age,  4 ;  and  Christianity, 
4  f. ;  Greek  patriotism,  5  ;  birth, 
home,  education,  5-7 ;  his  Morals, 
7  f. ;  his  Lives,  8-13  ;  personal  anec- 
dote in,  14  f.,  28 ;  oral  tradition  in, 
17-19  ;  value  as  an  historian,  18ff. ; 
methods  of  citation  and  comparison, 
19  f.,  296  f. ;  translations  of,  21  ff. ; 
assumes  knowledge  of  general  his- 
torical outlines,  28, 45,  49 ;  free  use 
of  Herodotus,  46,  305;  lack  of 
political  insight,  47,  61 ;  moulding 
and  shaping  activity,  64,  302,  318; 
different  conceptions  of  Themis- 
tocles, 181 ;  polemic  against  Herod- 
otus, 310f. 

Pnyx,  bema  in,  101 

Polyarchns,  of  ^Egina,  100 

Polybius,  5,  7,  67 

Polycrite',  granddaughter  of  Aristides, 
168 

Polyeuctus,  son  of  Themistocles,  118 

Poiitn*,  167 

Poseidon,  contest  with  Athena,  101 

Potamus,  Attic  deme,  169 

Prytaneium,  168,  330 

Psyttaleia,  137  f. ;  trophy  on,  138 

Pydna,  108 

Pvthian  oracle,  to  Aristides,  141  f ., 
"156,  158 

Pythodorus.  lies  in  wait  for  Themis- 
"tocles,  108  f. 


INDEX 


341 


R 

Rhoxanes,  the  Chiliarch,  113 


Salamis,  27,  28, 150 ;  in  the  Aristides, 
62  ;  in  the  oracle  of  the  "  wooden 
wall,"  87 ;  Greeks  encompassed 
there,  136  ;  Athenians  take  refuge 
there  a  second  time,  140 ;  trophy 
on, 281 

Samians,  162,  165 

Samos,  siege  of,  75 

Saudauce,  sister  of  the  King,  93,  137 

Sardis,  114,  116,  130,  191 

Sciathus,  83 

Seriphian,  the,  99 

Serpent,  of  the  Acropolis,  86  f. 

Seven  against  Thebes,  drama  of  ^Es- 
chylus,  57,  128 

Shakespeare,  and  Plutarch,  18,  23  f. 

Sicinnus,  the  affair  of,  91  f.,  281 

Simonides,  of  Ceos,  29  f.,  74,  80,  95, 
189,  190,  196  f.,  268,  313 

Socles,  the  Pseanian,  94 

Socrates,  charged  with  bigamy,  58, 
168  ;  his  poverty,  125 

Solon,  father  of  the  Sophists,  75 ;  his 
classification  of  citizens,  266 

Sparta,  Spartans,  27  ;  in  Pindar,  30 ; 
at  Plataea,  51  f. ;  protest  against 
rebuilding  of  Athens,  53  ;  outwitted 
by  Themistocles,  53  ;  their  custom 
of  mastigosis,  153 ;  inability  to  cap- 
ture Persian  camp,  155 ;  wisdom 
of,  163  ;  See  Lacedaemonians. 

Sphragidium,  290 

Sphragitic  nymphs,  141  f.,  156 

Stesilaus,  of  Ceos,  76,  126 

Stesimbrotus,  of  Thasos,  32  f.,  75,  78, 
107,  239 

Suetonius,  14,  20 

Svbaris,  daughter  of  Themistocles, 
"118 

T. 

Tegeans,  dispute  left  wing  •with 
Athenians,  143  f.;  lose  sixteen 
killed,  156 

Tempe,  expedition  to,  82 


Tenian  trireme,  92 

Thasos,  245 

Thebans,  tell  Mardonins  of  exchange 
of  wings,  150 ;  defeated  by  Athe- 
nians, 154 

Themistocles,  28  ;  in  the  Persians  of 
^schylus,  30;  and  Timocreon  of 
Rhodes,  30 f.,  103 f.;  his  "  medis- 
ing"  at  Salamis,  31  f. ;  political 
coalition  against,  31  f.,  54 ;  in 
Herodotus,  34 ;  revulsion  of  senti- 
ment in  his  favor,  35  ff. ;  ia  Old 
Comedy,  35,  46;  at  Marathon, 
50  f.,  131,  181;  his  naval  policy, 
51,  77  f. ;  ruse  to  secure  rebuilding 
of  Athens,  53, 100  f . ;  revulsion  in 
Spartan  sentiments  toward  him, 
53 f.;  political  downfall,  54,  104; 
exaggeration  of  his  cunning,  55, 
191,  196;  romance  in  tradition  of 
his  later  life,  48,  55  f.,  239 f.; 
abundance  of  tradition  for  his 
Life,  60;  family,  73;  boyhood, 
youth,  education,  74 f.;  pupil  of 
Anaxagoras  and  Melissus,  devotee 
of  Mnesiphilns,  75 ;  disinherited, 
76  ;  rivalry  with  Aristides,  76, 125 ; 
contrasted  with  Aristides,  76  f., 
126;  and  the  "trophy  of  Mil- 
tiades,"  77  ;  opposed  by  Miltiades, 
78  ;  savior  of  Hellas.  78  f .,  82  ;  in 
money-matters,  79 ;  threatens  Phili- 
des,  courts  Epicles,  79 ;  tries  to 
rival  Citnon  at  Olympia,  79;  as 
victorious  Choregus,  80;  as  arbi- 
trator, 80 ;  buys  off  Epicydes,  81 ; 
has  interpreter  put  to  death,  81 ; 
procribes  Arthmius  of  Zeleia,  81 ; 
reconciles  the  Hellenes,  81 ;  at 
Tempe,  82;  sent  to  Artemisium 
with  fleet,  82;  yields  to  the  claims 
of  Eurybiades,  82 ;  takes  money 
from  the  Enbosans,  83 ;  threatens 
Architeles,  83 ;  writes  inscriptions 
for  the  lonians,  85 ;  uses  signs  and 
portents  with  the  Athenians,  86  f. ; 
interprets  the  "  wooden  wall "  of 
the  oracle,  87;  his  bill  for  the 
safe-keeping  of  Athens,  87 ;  artifice 
for  getting  money  for  the  crews, 
87  ;  has  Aristides  recalled,  88  f. ; 
keeps  Eurybiades  at  Salamis,  89  ; 


342 


INDEX 


boasts  that  the  Athenian  fleet  is 
a  city,  89  f . ;  first  stratagem  at 
Salamis,  90  f . ;  sacrifice  before  the 
battle,  92  f.,  137;  choice  of  time 
for  battle,  94 ;  second  stratagem 
at  Salamis,  96,  138  ;  honors  for  the 
victory,  97  f. ;  his  memorable  say- 
ings, 89  f .,  98  f. ;  his  son,  99 ;  his 
incendiary  stratagem,  101  f .,  160 ; 
at  the  Amphictyonic  convention, 
102 ;  his  extortions  from  the  island- 
ers, 102;  assailed  by  Timocreon, 
103  f . ;  at  the  Isthmian  games, 
103 ;  portrait  statue  of,  104 ; 
sojourn  at  Argos  in  ostracism, 
105  ;  implicated  in  treason  of  Pau- 
sanias,  105  I . ;  flight  to  Corcyra 
and  Epirns,  106;  supplication  of 
Admetus,  107 ;  seeks  alliance  with 
Hiero  of  Syracuse,  107  f . ;  flight  to 
Asia,  48,  108,  239  ff. ;  his  property, 
108;  price  set  on  his  head,  109, 
113 ;  dream  at  house  of  Nicogenes, 
109 ;  escape  to  the  Persian  Court, 
109  f . ;  audience  with  Artabanns, 
110 ;  first  and  second  audiences 
with  the  King,  111-114 ;  learns 
Persian  language,  114;  influence 
at  Persian  court,  114  f. ;  saved  by 
Cybele  from  plot  against  his  life, 
115  f. ;  tries  to  restore  the  Water- 
carrier  to  Athens,  116  f . ;  his  life 
and  death  in  Magnesia,  117  f . ;  his 
tomb  and  posterity,  118  f. 

Joins  a  political  society,  126 ;  a 
reckless  agitator,  127;  accuses 
Aristides  of  too  much  justice,  133 ; 
reception  of  Aristides  at  Salamis, 
187 ;  worsted  in  plain  speech  by 
Aristides,  164;  Plato's  judgment 
on,  166 ;  under  accusation,  166 ;  his 
sagacity,  176;  his  sect,  180 

Themistocles,  fellow-student  of  Plu- 
tarch at  Athens,  49,  119 

Theogeiton,  the  Megarian,  157 

Theophrastns,  41,  57,  66,  108,  164  f. 

Theopompns,  38,  65,  100,  108,  117, 
191 

Thermopylae,  27,  85 


Thessalians,  198 

Thessaly,  medises,  82 

Thriasian  plain,  95 

Thucydides,  attitude  toward  Themis- 
tocles, 35  ;  toward  Herodotus,  35  ; 
on  Themistocles  in  Asia,  49 ;  as 
source  for  Plutarch,  56  f.,  187 ;  as 
biographer,  64 ;  on  the  sagacity  of 
Themistocles,  176f.;  cited,  108, 
110,  163  f. 

Timocreon,  of  Rhodes,  30  f.,  103 

Tisamenns,  the  Eleian  seer,  141 

Tribe,  73,  174,  273  f. 

Tribute,  the  Athenian,  323  f. 

Tripods,  as  choragic  monuments, 
123  f. 

Troezen,  welcomes  Athenians,  87 

Tyrants,  the  thirty,  101 

u. 

Uliades,  the  Samian,  162 

V. 

Valerius  Maximus,  229,  233 

W. 

Water-carrier,  the  bronze  maid,  116 
Water-commissioner,  116 

X. 

Xanthippides,  archon,  132 

Xanthippus,  son  of  Ariphron,  father 
of  Pericles,  286  ;  story  of  his  dog, 
88 ;  in  Timocreon's  song,  103 

,  envoy  to  Sparta,  141 

Xenophilus,  124 

Xenophon,  37,  65,  269 

Xerxes,  27,  79 ;  deceived  by  Themis- 
tocles, 91  f . ;  his  seat  over  against 
Salamis,  92 ;  number  of  his  ships, 
93 ;  starts  to  build  moles  to  Sala- 
mis, 95 ;  said  to  have  received 
Themistocles  at  court,  110;  in 
Thessaly,  135 ;  hurries  to  the  Hel- 
lespont, 381 


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